‘No group has the right to monopolise power’ – Sudan army chief on coup attempt

In response to the news of an aborted coup in Sudan yesterday morning, hundreds of people went to the streets in various places in the country in support of the government. In the afternoon, Sudan’s military leaders visited the army corps in El Shajara in Khartoum.

At dawn on Tuesday, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) thwarted a coup attempt by a group of army officers reportedly affiliated with the former regime of President Omar Al Bashir.

On Tuesday afternoon, SAF Commander-in-Chief and Chairman of the Sovereignty Council Abdelfattah El Burhan and Commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Deputy Chair of the Sovereignty Council Mohamed Dagalo, aka ‘Hemeti’, visited the army corps in El Shajara in Khartoum that reportedly contained one of the perpetrating pockets.

In his address to the corps members, El Burhan confirmed that the coup attempt was aborted without any bloodshed, and lauded the SAF officers and soldiers “for their wisdom in dealing with the events”.

He spoke about the importance of unity, between the political groups in the country, as well as between the armed forces. “Any rift will lead to disastrous results,” he said. “No group has the right to monopolise power.he armed forces are leading the change and take it wherever they want”.

According to El Burhan, “the armed forces are leading the change and take it wherever they want”. He acknowledged that they are also suffering the dire economic situation, in particular a shortage of spare parts and low salaries. “We already demanded the doubling of salaries,” he explained, and urged the political forces to pay attention to the state of the country.

'The armed forces are leading the change and take it wherever they want'  –  Abdelfattah El Burhan

“We have not lost hope that the situation will improve.” He further called for adherence to the slogans of freedom, peace and true justice, and their effective implementation, and stressed that the army will cooperate with “the civilian component to reach a democratic transformation for the benefit of the people”.

Brig Gen El Taher Abu Haja, media advisor to the SAF commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, reported the arrest of most of the 21 officers and soldiers who participated in the coup attempt.

In a speech to the Sudanese yesterday morning, PM Abdallah Hamdok also referred to the remnants of the former regime aiming to abort the civil democratic transition, and spoke about the need to reform the security and military apparatus.

Listeners confirmed to Radio Dabanga that the situation was calm and “as usual” in Khartoum in the early hours of Tuesday morning, before the national radio and television paused their programmes to announce the news of the aborted coup attempt.

Demonstrations

Hundreds of people took to the streets in El Gezira, North Kordofan, Red Sea state, and El Gedaref, to condemn the failed coup attempt. The participants in the demonstrations affirmed their adherence to civilian rule.

In press statements, various Resistance Committees and revolutionary groups in Khartoum and El Gezira denounced the coup attempt and the militarisation of the country, calling for "a 100 per cent civilian rule".

Activist Ali Ibrahim told Radio Dabanga from El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, that a large number of people in the city took part in “a roaring demonstration” rejecting the coup attempt.

'We need more serious measures to dismantle the pillars of the former regime, especially in the armed forces, security service, and police forces'  –  Communist Party of Sudan

Political parties

A large number of political parties, including the National Umma Party, the Sudanese Congress Party, the Arab Socialist Baath Party, the Communist Party of Sudan, the Nasserist Unionist Party, the National Consensus Forces as well as the Sudanese Professionals Association and the Darfur Bar Association strongly condemned the coup attempt. Most statements attributed the attempt to affiliates of the former Al Bashir regime.

The Arab Socialist Baath Party in addition condemned statements about party members being involved in the attempted coup, and called on the Sudanese “to be aware and vigilant about false and fabricated information”.

The Communist Party of Sudan said that the failure to prosecute those involved in previous coup attempts has tempted others to try to take power as well.  “We need more serious measures to dismantle the pillars of the former regime, especially in the armed forces, security service, and police forces”.

The Sudanese Communists hold the military component of the government fully responsible for its failure to implement the stipulations in the Constitutional Document to restructure the armed forces and security service and to dissolve the government militias.