Prime Minister (PM) Abdalla Hamdok of Sudan has been placed under house arrest by Sudan’s military. This development comes after the military moved him to an unknown location for refusing to support a coup, the information ministry disclosed.
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who heads a power-sharing ruling council has announced the dissolution of the transitional government and the sovereign council and declared a nationwide state of emergency.
This nationwide state of emergency comes hours after General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s forces arrested PM Abdalla Hamdok and other high-ranking civilian leaders, reports disclosed.
Mohammed Vall, an Al Jazeera correspondent who has reported massively on the happenings in Sudan, disclosed that it is unlikely for the young people who are in the streets of Khartoum to stop their resistance, following the announcement of the state of emergency which includes curfews.
“The civilians in the streets of Khartoum at the moment are armed to their teeth. We know that the armed factions that came from the fringes during the last three years came with their weapons. Nobody checked because they are in power.”
Mohammed Vall
Mohammed Vall reporting on the nature of the situation on the streets of Khartoum, said, “we can expect troubles ahead. They are not going to go back home easily”.
“To return to dialogue again will take a long time. And there will be a lot of trouble before it begins again.”
Mohammed Vall
Take to the streets and protest peacefully
In a statement released by the office of Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, protestors were encouraged to take to the streets after security forces detained senior civilian leaders in the transitional government, reports disclosed.
“We [Government] call on the Sudanese people to protest using all peaceful means possible to take back their revolution from the thieves.”
PM Abdalla Hamdok
On his part, Mohammed Hassan Eltaishi, a member of the Sudanese civilian sovereign council, stated that the apparent military coup is “political foolishness” and that he would resist it “until the last drop of blood”.
World leaders against the military takeover
Governments around the world and human rights groups have demanded the immediate release of high-ranking Sudanese civilian political leaders and condemn the military takeover actions.
Mr. Jeffery Feltman, the United States Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa has rejected the apparent military power takeover and describes these actions as “utterly unacceptable”.
“The US is deeply alarmed at reports of a military take-over of the transitional government. This would contravene the Constitutional Declaration and the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people and is utterly unacceptable.
“As we have said repeatedly, any changes to the transitional government by force puts at risk US assistance.”
Mr. Jeffery Feltman
Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairman of the African Union Commission in a statement ordered for the release of the Sudan’s political leaders and called for human rights to be respected.
“The Chairperson calls for the immediate resumption of consultations between civilian and military within the framework of 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.”
Moussa Faki Mahamat
Dr. Volker Perthes, the United Nation’s (UN) special representative to Sudan, also declared the civilian leaders’ detention “unacceptable” and called for their immediate release.
Dr. Perthes urged all parties involved to exercise utmost restraint. He also stated that “all parties must immediately return to dialogue and engage in good faith to restore the constitutional order”.
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