Sudan’s military has staged a bloodless coup, toppling the transitional civilian government with a promise that the journey to move to an electoral regime in 2023 is ‘‘still on course’’.
It all began with faint media reports claiming that top government officials were yesterday subjected to house arrest and detentions and that flights from Khartoum airports were off the radar.
But within six hours, by midday, the civilian wing of the Khartoum administration had lost the grip of power.
What happened…
The head of now-defunct Sudan Sovereign Council Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared a state of emergency and dissolution of the council after the Monday coup.
Lt. Gen. Fattah immediately dissolved the entire government and that the military would continue with the democratic transition until the power is handed to a civilian government in the 2023 general elections.
However, several sources in Khartoum said the former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok’s whereabouts remained unknown with other international media such as Aljazeera saying he is under security detention for failing to back the coup.
“After he refused to be a part of the coup, a force from the army detained Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and took him to an unidentified location,” information Minister, Hamza Baloul told Aljazeera before his arrest on Monday.
Detentions
Several other civilian officials of the former government, including Minister of Industry Ibrahim al-Sheikh, Governor of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum Ayman Khalid, and Hamdok’s media adviser Faisal Mohammed as well as the Spokesperson of Sudan’s ruling sovereign Council Mohammed al-Fiky Suliman have also been arrested, according to Aljazeera.
The African Union Commission (AUC) and Inter-governmental Authority (IGAD) commended Sudan’s military takeover, calling for the immediate release of detained officials, and resolving the dispute through dialogue.
“The Chairperson calls for the immediate resumption of consultations between the civilians and military within the framework of the Political Declaration and the Constitutional Decree. The Chairperson reaffirms that dialogue and consensus is the only relevant path to save the country and its democratic transition,” stated the AU Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat on Monday.
IGAD said: “The Executive Secretary strongly condemns any attempts to undermine the transitional government and urges all parties to exercise utmost restraining.”
“Sudan is the current chair and important founding member of IGAD and the organisation stands ready to support the transitional government of Sudan and the Sudanese people consolidate peace and democratic gains,” it added.
In September this year, Sudan survived a failed coup plot, ushering in bitter relations between parties to a power-sharing deal – the military and civilians- after deposing Ex-President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
Parties agreed to a political transition and subsequently held a general election in 2023 as the pathway for democratic governance. It would be the first revert to democracy since the 1980s after toppling Al-Bashir who took power from last Sudan’s democratically elected leader in 1989 military coup,
But, Al-Burhan, in a statement on the state-owned television on Monday morning promised to honour the October 2020 Juba Peace Agreement that will have the general election at the end of the transitional period in 2023.
According to Al-Burhan, there was a need for the military to restore security and safety in the country after the situation deteriorated causing public concern.
“We guarantee the armed forces’ commitment to completing the democratic transition until we hand over to a civilian elected government,” he was quoted by Reuters saying, as he added the move is setting elections for July 2023.
“What the country is going through now is a real threat and danger to the dreams of the youth, and the hopes of the nation to build a nation whose features are starting to emerge.”
The military leader also said his country will have a technocrat government, calling Abdallaziz El-Hilu of Sudan People Liberation –North (SPLM-N) and Abdal Waid Al-Nur of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) to join the government.
Al-Burhan further called on the region and its neighbours to support the government’s endeavour to achieve lasting peace and Sudan’s democratic transformation under his leadership.
However, media reports have indicated that protesters have continued taking to the streets in the capital, Khartoum demanding civilians rule in Sudan on Monday despite the military takeover.
U.S Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman has expressed dismay on Sudan’s ongoing political development saying Washington was deeply alarmed over the reports of the military takeover which would place U.S assistance at risk.