The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has called for the immediate release of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and all arrested political leaders in Sudan.
Hamdok, members of the Transitional Sovereignty Council’s civilian component and several ministers were arrested by joint military forces in an apparent coup.
The chairman of Sudan’s ruling body, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, announced the dissolution of the transitional government and the sovereign council and declared a nationwide state of emergency.
‘The Executive Secretary strongly condemns any attempt to undermine the transitional government and urges all parties to exercise utmost restraint’, IGAD said in a statement.
‘He further calls for the immediate release of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and all arrested political leaders’.
Sudan is a founding member of IGAD and the organisation declared its readiness to support the transitional government of Sudan and the Sudanese people.
The African Union (AU), United Nations (UN) and Arab League have all condemned the move.
In its immediate reaction to the development in Sudan, the United States suspended $700million in aid to the country and urged the immediate restoration of the civilian government.
However, Sudan’s information ministry has denied dissolution of the government, maintaining that the civilian government under Hamdok was still the legal transitional authority in the country.
‘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.
Protesters have hit the streets of Sudan as civilians demand release of the ousted prime minister and a return to civilian rule.
Source: IGAD
Photo source: UN Sudan/Ayman Suliman
