Sudan’s new head of the transitional military council has affirmed that a civilian government would be established in the African country, stressing that all traces of ousted President Omar al-Bashir’s government will be “uprooted.”
Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdulrahman made the remarks in his first televised address to the nation on Saturday, three days after the country’s military announced that it had unseated Bashir following almost four months of protests.
“Honorable citizens, a military council will be established to represent the sovereign state. A civilian government will be formed and agreed upon between all sides, and the transitional military council will be committed to establishing a civilian government based on the following: a transitional period lasting for a maximum of two years, in which during or at the end of it, governance of the country will be handed over to the civilian government formed by the people,” Burhan said.
He made the comments just a day after he was sworn in as the head of Sudan’s new ruling military council.Burhan added that those involved in the killing of anti- government protesters would certainly face justice and announced the immediate removing of a night-time curfew. He also ordered the immediate release of demonstrators imprisoned by Bashir’s special emergency courts.
“I announce the restructuring of state institutions according to the law and pledge to fight corruption and uproot the regime and its symbols,” he further stressed.
Earlier in the day, Burhan accepted the resignation of Salih Ghosh, head of Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).
Bashir, 75, who ruled over 30 years, took power in a coup in 1989. He had said that he would only move aside for another army officer or at the ballot box.
The protests against Bashir initially erupted on December 19, 2018, in the face of a government decision to triple the price of bread. The demonstrations quickly turned into a mass movement across the country against the president, and finally led to his ouster on Thursday.