A general, a warlord and an economist vie to run Sudan

ASTALWARTOF the previous regime, now in charge of dismantling it. A camel-rustler turned warlord, now ensconced in a palatial home. And an avuncular economist, who once was a communist.These are unlikely bedfellows. Yet they are entrusted with the task of building democracy in Sudan. Barely two years after a ruthless Islamist despot, Omar al-Bashir, was deposed, they are supposed to be shepherding the country towards elections in 2024. “We call it the Sudan model,” smiles Abdalla Hamdok, the economist (below left). He is the prime minister appointed by protest leaders in 2019. “A model of partnership between civilians and the military, paradoxically, to bring democracy.”