Sudan transitional government rejects army chief's council

Sudan’s transitional government has rejected the creation of a new body with great powers that was declared by the army chief, as the African nation is experiencing a fragile transition to civilian rule.

The transitional government expressed its opposition to (and disapproval of) the decree issued earlier this week by the head of the Sovereignty Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Al-Burhan established a Council of Transition Partners (CTP) which is “mainly responsible for leading the transition period, and resolving differences [between those in power] and having all the necessary prerogatives to exercise its power.”

This is while Sudan has already established a council — which is made up of six civilian and five military leaders — that is tasked with leading the country toward free and fair multiparty elections in 2022.

The council, which is Sudan’s highest executive authority, was founded in August 2019 after the military overthrew president Omar al-Bashir in the wake of mass protests against his rule.

The transitional government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok expressed its opposition to al-Burhan’s decree, and also accused the general of overstepping his prerogatives by granting excessive powers to the new body.

Hamdok stated that the CTP’s “role must be purely consultative and in no case must interfere in the activities of the executive and legislative bodies, nor those of the sovereign council.”

The decree, according to government spokesman Faisal Mohammed Saleh, announced that the new body contradicts the “constitutional declaration” signed last year between pro-democracy activists and the military generals.

“It is imperative that we declare our disaccord with the creation of the CTP in its current form,” he noted.

He also argued that the new body lacks representation and cannot possibly serve as a viable replacement for the yet-to-be formed transitional parliament.

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