Civil society groups in Sudan have called for a two-day strike and rejected internationally backed efforts for talks with the military over a power-sharing arrangement.

Sudan’s pro-democracy movement has announced a two-day nationwide civil disobedience campaign starting Sunday.

The call for strikes came as efforts to resolve the political crisis in the African nation after the October 25 military coup reached a standstill.

The Sudanese Professionals’ Association, the union which led the 2019 uprising against longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir, called on protesters to man barricades from Saturday night to prepare for the strikes.

Talks hit ‘semi-deadlock’

Since the coup, international organizations and mediators have sought to find ways out of the crisis through negotiations.

Anti-coup protesters have rejected internationally backed efforts to return to a power-sharing arrangement with the military. “No negotiation, no partnership, no legitimacy,” they said on social media, calling for “complete civil disobedience” on Sunday and Monday.

The Sudanese Professionals’ Association said late Friday that mediation efforts that “seek a new settlement” between the military and civilian leaders would “reproduce and worsen” the country’s crisis.

Reuters news agency reported on Saturday that the military has also refused a return to democratic transition, causing a “semi-deadlock.”

What happened in Sudan?

On October 25, the Sudanese military seized power by dissolving the transitional government and arresting Cabinet ministers.

The coup was led by the same man who deposed al-Bashir in 2019, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan.

The United Nations and the African Union, as well as world powers, have slammed the military takeover and urged the immediate return to civilian rule.

But the army continues to reject efforts to resolve the crisis, and security forces have confronted tens of thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets across Sudan.