Although Al-Burhan’s statement indicated adherence to the constitutional document, the abolition of Article 72 means the restoration of the authority of the Transitional Military Council; The abolition of Article 24/3 also indicates the possibility of redistributing the percentages of seats in the Legislative Council.
Among the most prominent items canceled are; Articles 11 and 12 that regulate the competencies of the Sovereignty Council and the Ministers and the relationship with the Forces of Freedom and Change.
Article 72 provides for the abolition of the Transitional Military Council, which took power in the country following the overthrow of the Salvation regime in a popular revolution in April 2019.
Following the abolition of the Military Council in the second half of 2019, a Sovereignty Council was formed with the participation of 5 soldiers and 6 civilians, before adding to them three representatives of the armed movements that signed the peace agreement in October 2020.
The work of the National Committee to investigate the dispersal of the leadership sit-in in June 2019 and the committee tasked with dismantling the structure of the Brotherhood regime were also suspended.
Following Al-Burhan’s statement, according to which the Sovereignty Council and the Council of Ministers were dissolved and the state of emergency was imposed, international reactions followed, as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Sudan, Volker Peretz, expressed the international organization’s deep concern “regarding reports of an ongoing coup and attempts to undermine the political transition process in Sudan.” He described the arrests of the prime minister, government officials and politicians as “unacceptable.”
Peretz called on the Sudanese security forces to “immediately release those who were illegally arrested, or placed under house arrest,” blaming these forces for ensuring the security and safety of the people in their custody.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his country’s support for the transitional government in Sudan, calling for the immediate release of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who was reportedly placed under house arrest.
The US embassy in Khartoum said it is deeply concerned about reports that the armed forces have taken action against the civilian government in Sudan, stressing that it condemns actions that “undermine the democratic transition in Sudan.”
The US embassy called on all actors obstructing the transition in Sudan to step down and allow the civilian-led transitional government to continue its important work to achieve the goals of the revolution.
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