Sudan’s Burhan appoints Kamil Idris as prime minister, two women to Sovereign Council
May 19, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – Head of the Sudanese Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Monday appointed Kamil al-Tayeb Idris prime minister and appointed two women members of the transitional Sovereign Council, representing Eastern and Central Sudan.
Kamil al-Tayeb Idris is a Sudanese politician born in Omdurman. He served as director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) between November 1997 and September 2008. Also, he served as secretary-general of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV). Idris previously ran for the presidency against deposed President Omar al-Bashir in the 2010 elections.
Idris is the first prime minister appointed to the post since Abdullah Hamdok’s resignation in January 2022. Following the Oct. 25, 2021 coup by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against the civilian government, Hamdok failed to achieve consensus among political forces. Since then, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs has been acting prime minister.
The Sovereign Council’s media arm stated that “the head of the Council issued a constitutional decree appointing Kamil al-Tayeb Idris Abdul Hafeez as head of the Council of Ministers.”
The government amended the constitutional document on Feb. 19, granting the Sovereign Council the right to appoint and dismiss the prime minister upon the recommendation of the transitional legislative authority, which consists of the Sovereign Council and the Council of Ministers.
The constitutional amendments extended the transitional period to 39 months, starting from Feb. 23, 2025, the day the amendments were published in the Official Gazette, if national consensus is not reached or new elections are not held.
TThe decision to appoint Idris as prime minister came after Daffallah al-Haj, initially appointed Minister of Cabinet Affairs and interim prime minister on April 30, declined to serve.
Meanwhile, the head of the Sovereign Council issued a constitutional decree appointing both Salma Abdul Jabbar al-Mubarak and Nawara Abu Muhammad Muhammad Taher as members of the transitional Sovereign Council.
Salma, daughter of the well-known Islamic preacher Abdul Jabbar al-Mubarak, was previously appointed a member of the transitional Sovereign Council representing the central region shortly after the Oct. 25, 2021 coup, along with three other members, before being relieved of her position in July 2022 after a sudden rapprochement between the army commander and the Forces of Freedom and Change.