
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok “is still the legitimate transitional authority in the country” the Ministry of Information said in a statement posted on its Facebook page late Monday. The Ministry also claimed the prime minister was “kidnapped” along with a number of his ministers.
Sudan's military dissolved its power-sharing government and declared a state of emergency Monday, catapulting the country into its biggest political crisis in its two-year-old transition.
The coup comes after months of rising tensions in the country, where military and civilian groups have shared power in a shaky transitional coalition, called the Sovereign Council, since former President Omar al-Bashir was ousted from power in 2019.
The Ministry of Information statement late Monday added that the transitional constitution gives only the prime minister the right to declare a state of emergency and that the military's actions are a crime punishable by law.
The ministry statement added the government welcomed the positions taken by the United Nations secretary-general, the African Union, and the Arab League against a military coup in Sudan.
Last week, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said a full transition to civilian rule should be in place in Sudan by Nov. 17, echoing the voices of thousands of Sudanese protesters who took to the streets to demand that the promise of Sudan's pro-democracy movement be honored. But on Monday the prime minister and multiple government ministers and officials were arrested.