SUDANESE MILITARY DISSOLVES GOVERNMENT, DECLARES EMERGENCY AMID COUP

The head of Sudan’s ruling council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has announced the dissolution of the transitional sovereign council and the government, enacting a state of emergency amid a military coup after the PM’s arrest. Following the arrest of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and other officials by troops, Burhan stated that the military would oversee the remainder of Sudan’s transition to democracy and will hand over to a democratically elected government.

Burhan, himself a military officer, vowed to ensure that elections would take place in July 2023. The Sovereign Council had been tasked with overseeing a four-year transition to democracy after long-time leader Omar al-Bashir was removed from power in 2019 in the wake of months of civil unrest and protests. The council leader claimed he was forced to act following months of infighting between military and civilian leaders, while some calls from politicians amounted to incitement to violence.

Burhan asserted that he would create the proper conditions for political parties to reach elections and insisted that the military was needed to oversee the process and ensure the country’s security and safety. The declaration also sees state governors removed and the appointment of general managers as the caretakers for their respective ministries; the anticorruption task force will also be suspended. In place of the government, Burhan announced the formation of a revolutionary parliament of youth.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Sudan on Monday following Hamdok’s arrest. The Information Ministry claimed that troops had fired on protesters in the capital and its twin city of Omdurman. At least 12 people have been injured in clashes according to the doctors’ committee, which posted on its Facebook page. -RT.COM, 25 OCT, 2021