Sudanese opposition rejects ‘military coup’

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Sudanese opposition parties and professional associations on Thursday voiced their “total rejection” of the “military coup” that appears to have removed President Omar al-Bashir from power.

They made the assertion in a joint statement issued by the Sudanese Professionals Association and a number of opposition coalitions.

“The regime has carried out a military coup that will only replicate the same figures and institutions against which the Sudanese people have risen up,” the statement read.

It went on to urge Sudanese protesters to “maintain their ongoing demonstration outside army headquarters in Khartoum and in other parts of the country”.

It also called on demonstrators to remain in the streets “until power is handed over to a civilian government that reflects the will of the revolution”.

Earlier Thursday, the Sudanese army announced the “removal” of al-Bashir and the imposition of a two-year “transitional phase”.

In a televised statement, Defense Minister Awad ibn Auf also announced the imposition of a one-month curfew -- starting Thursday evening -- and a three-month countrywide state of emergency.

Ibn Auf further announced the suspension of Sudan’s 2005 constitution, along with the dissolution of the Sudanese presidency, parliament, and council of ministers.

A military council, he added, would now be drawn up to run the country’s affairs during the post-Bashir interim period.

Sudanese opposition leaders, for their part, have described the army’s terms as “unacceptable”.

While the opposition supports al-Bashir’s departure, it rejects what it describes as the “replacement of one military coup with another”.

Al-Bashir came to power on the back of a 1989 military coup against the democratically-elected government of Sadiq al-Mahdi.