Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister, Sadiq al-Mahdi, has died from Covid-19 at the age of 84, his party announced on Thursday, November 26. Al-Mahdi was overthrown in the 1989 military coup that brought Omar al-Bashir to power. Last month, Mahdi’s family said he had tested positive for Covid-19. He was transferred to the UAE for treatment a few days later following a brief hospitalisation in Sudan. In a statement, the Umma Party said that Mahdi would be buried on Friday morning in the city of Omdurman in Sudan. Mahdi was a devoted opposition figure during Bashir’s long rule and was among public figures behind a mass-protest movement that eventually prompted the military to overthrow the president last year. Following his death, Sudan’s transitional administration, which governs under a power-sharing deal between the military and civilian groups, declared three days of mourning. Sudan has so far recorded nearly 17,000 coronavirus cases including more than 1,200 deaths.
