On Monday, France called for the continuation of cooperation between the military and civilian components of the Transitional Authority in Sudan.
For days, tensions have been rising between the two components due to criticism from military leaders of the country’s political forces, against the background of the army’s announcement, on Tuesday, of thwarting a military coup attempt.
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok met with the French special envoy to Sudan, Jean Michel, in the capital, Khartoum, on Monday, according to a cabinet statement.
The council said that Hamdok discussed with the French envoy support for the transition process, democratic transformation and a number of regional issues.
Since August 21, 2019, Sudan has been living a 53-month transitional period that ends with holding elections in early 2024, during which power is shared by the army, civilian forces and armed movements that signed a peace agreement with the government on 3 October.
While Michel said that my visit to Sudan expresses our support for the transitional government, which is led by civilians, after the failed coup attempt.
And on Tuesday, the Sudanese Minister of Defense, Yassin Ibrahim, announced the thwarting of a coup attempt, which he said was led by Major General Abdul-Baqi Al-Hassan Othman Bakrawi, along with 22 other officers of different ranks, non-commissioned officers and soldiers.
Michel stressed the need for continued cooperation between the civilian and military components of the authority during the transitional period.
This stage began after the army leadership removed Omar al-Bashir from the presidency (1989-2019), on April 11, 2019, under pressure from popular protests condemning the deteriorating economic conditions.
He added that France supports all efforts to stabilize Sudan and Africa, and supports the goals of the Sudanese revolution, “freedom, peace and justice.”
Following the coup attempt, the head of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, accused politicians of not caring about citizens’ problems, while his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), said that politicians are responsible for the coups.
During 64 years, Sudan witnessed three coups and eight failed coup attempts.
Civil officials considered that the accusations of Al-Burhan and Hemedti paved the way for a coup before handing over the leadership of the Sovereignty Council (representing the presidency) to the civilian component, next November.
During the transitional period, the country will be run by a civilian government and a Sovereignty Council consisting of 14 members: 5 military, 6 civilians, and 3 armed movements.
And on Sunday, the tension between civilians and the military escalated, following the withdrawal of the guard of the member of the Sovereignty Council from the civilian component, the head of the Empowerment Removal Committee (governmental), Muhammad al-Faki Suleiman, as well as the withdrawal of the joint protection forces (military and police), from the headquarters of the Empowerment Committee and 22 sites that they recovered from supporters of the regime Bashir.
