The reign of Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir has finally come to an end as he was overthrown and arrested in a coup by the armed forces on Thursday following months of mass protests against his brutal regime. The 75-year-old leader had been in power for the last 30 years. He came to power in a 1989 coup.
While addressing the people of Sudan through state television on Thursday, Defence Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf announced the toppling of the regime and revealed that Bashir had been detained in a secure place.
He announced that a military council would now run the country for the next two years after which the presidential elections will be conducted. However, he did not reveal who would head the military council.
Ibn Auf declared a three-month state of emergency, the suspension of the constitution and the dissolution of parliament. He announced that Sudan’s airspace would also remain closed for 24 hours and border crossings shut until further notice.
While the people of Sudan got initially excited about the fall of Al-Bashir, they refused to accept the military takeover, renewing their demand for a civilian-led transitional government.
Although the army had slapped a month-long night-time curfew in the country, thousands of protesters refused to accept the curfew and went for a sit-in for the sixth night running outside Khartoum army headquarters. The army had earlier warned protesters not to defy the curfew.
The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) has reportedly rejected Ibn Auf’s move as a military coup and vowed to hold further demonstrations.
“This is a continuation of the same regime,” said Sara Abdeljalil of SPA, reported CNN. “So what we need to do is to continue the fight and the peaceful resistance.”
Meanwhile, Washington has called out Khartoum to exercise restraint and to allow space for civilian participation within the government.
“The Sudanese people should determine who leads them and their future and the Sudanese people have been clear and are demanding a civilian-led transition,” the US State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters.
The European Union has also urged Sudan’s army to carry out a “swift” handover to civilian rule.
