Al-Burhan Misrepresented Sudan’s Military Coup in a Tweet
The Claim
Sudan's latest military takeover is a "corrective action" to deal with chaos and correct the transitional government's direction.
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Emerging story
Sputnik's Arabic language service published an interview with Sudan's top military official, Gen. Abdel-Fattah AL-Burhan, in early November 2021. During the conversation, Al- Burhan compared the takeover he led to this year's April. He then used that analogy to argue that the military coup he orchestrated in October 2021 was a "corrective move" meant to "tackle chaos and correct the transitional government's route."
Misbar’s Analysis
According to Misbar's investigation, the claim is false. Describing the latest military coup as a "corrective measure" is a distortion of events in Sudan over the last two years.
Protests erupted in the Sudanese town of Atbara in December 2018, sparked by the country's increasing economic crisis. President Omar al-Bashir was deposed after 30 years in power as a result of the protests.
Following the mass uprising in December 2018, a transitional government was constituted. The Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) signed a Constitutional Declaration in August 2019 to replace Sudan's Interim Constitution from 2005 and regulate the three-year transition phase.
The Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the Forces for Freedom and Change should share the chairmanship of the sovereignty council in the transitional phase, according to the constitutional mandate (FFC). The TMC chaired the first half of the transitional government, making the Commander-In-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces General Al Burhan, Head of the sovereignty council.
However, the army seized power in a coup orchestrated by Al-Burhan himself on October 25, 2021. Al-Burhan announced a state of emergency across the country, suspended many parts of the constitution, and disbanded the transitional cabinet and Sudan Sovereign Council. Several government officials have been detained, including Prime Minister Hamdok.
The coup's timing was critical since the military council is required by the constitutional mandate to take over the presidency of the sovereignty council to the civilian partner FFC in November of this year. As a result, the military staged the coup to prevent the handover, showing the validity of previous concerns about the military's plans to remove the transitional government. As a result, Al-takeover Burhan's was a military coup against the transitional government and breached the constitution. This action was severely condemned and criticized domestically and internationally, with various groups pressuring the military to overthrow the coup and restore the legitimate government.
