Formation of Sovereignty Council in Sudan Postponed by Two Days
Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the vice-president of the Military Junta and the head of the Rapid Support Forces militia was selected to sit in the sovereignty council.
The formation of the sovereignty council, the highest body in the transitional government set to rule Sudan for a period of three years and three months, has been postponed by 48 hours due to disagreements within the opposition alliance about its nominees.
After the constitutional agreement was formally signed on Saturday between the ruling military junta and the opposition alliance, called the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces (DFCF), the 11 members of the sovereignty council were scheduled to be sworn in today.
As per the power-sharing agreement reached between the two sides, the military junta will appoint five military officers to the council, the DFCF will appoint five civilians of its choice, and the remaining one will be a civilian with a military background acceptable to both sides.
According to reports on Saturday, the military junta had chosen the junta’s president Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, vice-president Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and lieutenant general Yasser al-Atta to sit in the sovereignty council. Dagalo heads the militia called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which had carried out the massacre of over 100 protesters on June 3. The other two names from the military’s side are to be announced later.
The DFCF had reportedly appointed Aisha Mousa, Siddig Tower, Mohamed Elfaki Suleiman, Hassan Sheikh Idris and Taha Othman Ishaq.
However, the DFCF “have withdrawn some nominees submitted to the Sovereign Council and requested a 48-hour deadline for handing over their final list of candidates to the Sovereign Council,” Shams al-Din, spokesperson of the military junta, announced earlier today.
After objections from the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), the organization that was a central to the organizing and mobilizing in the Sudanese revolution, a number of nominees are reported to have withdrawn their names.
As per schedule, the appointment of economist Abdullah Hamdok as the prime minister, chosen by the DFCF, was supposed to be made official tomorrow and he was scheduled to take an oath of office before the sovereignty council on August 21. Any further delay in the appointment of this council will consequently postpone the PM’s swearing-in ceremony.
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