Beijing, 30 Oct (Xinhua) -- Sudanese military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said a new prime minister and a new government would be appointed within a week.
In an interview article published by the Russian Satellite News Agency on the 29th, Bulhan said that the new prime minister will be a technocrat who has been unanimously approved by people from all factions in Sudan to form a cabinet. The military will not interfere in the formation of the cabinet and will lead Sudan with the new government.
Smoke billows from Khartoum, Sudan, on October 25. On the same day, the residence of Prime Minister Hamduk of the Transitional Government of the Sudan was surrounded by military personnel, and several other ministers were arrested. The Chairman of the Sudanese SovereignTy Commission, Burhan, declared a state of emergency. (Xinhua News Agency)
"We have a responsibility to lead the people and help them through the transition until the elections are held."
Burhan said that in addition to the new cabinet, new members will be appointed to join the sovereignty committee.
Burhan is Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces and Chairman of the Sovereign Committee. He declared a state of emergency on the 25th and dissolved the sovereign committee and the transitional government.
On 12 December 2019, in Khartoum, Sudan, Burhan addressed the 39th Arab Broadcasting Union Assembly. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Mohammed Haider)
The Office of the Prime Minister of the Transitional Government said that Prime Minister Abdullah Hamduk was placed under house arrest on the 25th and returned to his residence on the evening of the 26th, but was under "close surveillance". Several Transitional Government ministers and members of the Sovereign Committee remain in military custody at unknown locations.
Bulhan denied the military's coup. According to him, the military took over to prevent the differences between the two factions in the transitional government from triggering a civil war.
On the evening of the 28th, Bulhan said in a speech to several groups that assisted the military in overthrowing the regime of then-President Omar Bashir in 2019 that the military was still considering returning Hamduk as prime minister. "Until tonight, we're still sending people to talk to him, and we're still hopeful."
The speech was broadcast on Al Jazeera.
According to Reuters quoted Hamduke's allies on the 29th, Hamduke rejected the military's cooperation proposal and demanded the restoration of the transitional government and the release of the detained government ministers.
In Protest, in Khartoum, Sudan, on October 27, supporters of the Transitional Government erected roadblocks on the road in protest. (Photo by Xinhua news agency reporter Ma Yichong)
Sporadic popular demonstrations have seen in the past few days in Khartoum, the capital of the Sudan, and elsewhere. Due to poor Internet and telephone signals, protesters printed and distributed leaflets calling on people to take to the streets on the 30th to hold a mass protest.
In April 2019, the Sudanese military overthrew the Al-Bashir regime and established the Transitional Military Council. In August of the same year, the Transitional Military Commission reached an agreement with the Non-Military Political Forces Alliance for Freedom and Change to dissolve the Transitional Military Commission and establish the Sudanese Sovereignty Commission. The following month, the Transitional Government of sudan was formed, with Hamduk as Prime Minister.
Under the agreement, the pre-transition sovereignty committee will be headed by a senior military official, and the post-sovereign committee will be chaired by a civilian official until elections are held in 2023.
This is September 8, 2019, Sudan's Transitional Government Prime Minister Hamduk (front row fifth from left) in the capital Khartoum with cabinet members. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Mohammed Haider)
After two years of difficult transition, the political situation in the Sudan has recently become tense again. The military has called for a reshuffle of the transitional government, while non-military officials have accused the military of intent on seizing power. On 21 September, there was an attempted coup in Sudan.
The African Union announced on the 27th that Sudan's membership would be suspended until Sudan's "transitional government led by civilian officials is effectively restored." On the same day, the World Bank announced the suspension of financial assistance operations to Sudan.
The United Nations Security Council issued a media statement on the 28th, urging the Sudanese military to immediately release the detained civilian officials and restore the transitional government led by civilian officials. (Guo Qian)