Sudan’s Information Ministry says Hamdok gov’t still legal

Khartoum, Sudan | Xinhua | Sudan’s Information Ministry said on Monday that the civilian government, led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, is still the legal transitional authority in the country and denied the dissolution of the cabinet.

The constitutional document grants the right of declaring the state of emergency in the country only to the prime minister, and does not give the right of dissolving the transitional institutions to any party other than the legislative council, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry demanded that the leaders of the Sudanese army release the prime minister and other arrested officials.

Earlier in the day, Commander General of the Sudanese Armed Forces and Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan announced a state of emergency, dissolution of the sovereign council and the cabinet and dismissal of the state governors.

Al-Burhan made the announcement in a speech broadcast by the official Sudan TV, saying the differences among the partners of the transitional period in Sudan pushed the armed forces to intervene to prevent the country from sliding to chaos.

Al-Burhan further voiced commitment to the constitutional document with suspension of some of its items relating to the coalition with the Forces of Freedom and Change Alliance (the civilian component in the ruling coalition).

Meanwhile, since early Monday, the capital Khartoum has witnessed a campaign of arrests that included the Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and some of his ministers together with civilian members in the sovereign council.

To this end, the prime minister’s office said in a statement that a security force took Hamdok and his wife to an unknown place.

The Forces of Freedom and Change Alliance, for its part, accused Al-Burhan of carrying out a military coup.

Demonstrators have taken to the street in Khartoum, rejecting the measures announced by Al-Burhan and demanding a civilian government.

Since an attempted coup on Sept. 21, the disputes between the military and civilian partners in the transitional government have continued to escalate.

Sudan is ruled amid a 39-month transitional period under a traditional government of military and civilian elements, established after the ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The transitional period is set to be followed by elections to form a new government.

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Xinhua