Can Hamdok return as Sudan’s Prime Minister again?
January 25, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The head of the National Umma Party (NUP) Fadlallah Burma Nasir on January 12, expressed his support for the return of the former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, saying that it was “expected after the signing of the final agreement.
Hamdok is not the only candidate for the position of prime minister, as there are rumours that former Justice Minister Nasr Eddine Abdel Bari is the candidate of the United States for the position and that the former minister has the support of the military component.
Nevertheless, Kamal Omer, a member of the Supreme Coordinating Committee of the Framework Agreement, told Sudan Tribune that the candidatures of the future prime minister currently being circulated are not accurate.
Strong reservations
Hamdok’s return faces reservations made by many groups of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) including the NUP.
“There are strong reservations about him,” said a leading figure in the pro-democracy coalition.
The FFC forces blame Hamdok for his failure to lead his cabinet firmly giving room for the emergency of a multiplicity of decision-making centres around him. Also, many remember how he gave the chairmanship of the Economic Committee to Hemetti.
Mohamed al-Hadi, an FFC leadership member, confirmed to Sudan Tribune the existence of divisions within the coalition over Hamdok’s return.
Further, Kamal Omer underscored that Hamdok’s name for the position of prime minister was not proposed officially by any group.
“It is just a political whisper,” he said.
Weakness and failure
Many FFC officials say that the former prime minister contributed greatly to the failure of the transitional period, due to his lack of ability to make quick decisions and weakness with the military, as well as his poor communication with the revolutionary forces, especially the resistance committees.
Al-Hadi went further to say that there is a crisis of trust between him and the FFC, as some of them speak about “treason”.
The FFC official was referring to the آNovember 21, 2021 deal that Hamdok signed with Abdel Fattah al-Burhan after the coup to form a government without the pro-democracy coalition that had picked them for the position.
What do anti-coup activists think about Hamdok?
An activist in the revolutionary movement against the October 25 coup believes that Hamdok’s return or not does not mean anything to the street under the three “No’s” slogan: no partnership, no negotiation and no legitimacy.
In statements to Sudan Tribune, Ahmed Al-Munzir said he believes that Hamdok’s return will create more failure and complication for the political process and the framework agreement.
His return “threatens the transitional process in Sudan,” he said.
The resistance committees continue to demonstrate against the military leaders despite the signing of the framework agreement and the ongoing final phase of the political process. The neighbourhood committees say they totally reject the ongoing political process with the coup leaders even if they share the same objectives with the FFC forces.
In light of all these statements, Sudan Tribune asked a leading figure of the broad political coalition why Burma professes such optimism about Hamdok?
“Because they are both from North Kordofan,” he responded, adding “even his party would not support his wishes”.
Hamdok was not reachable to get his opinion on this matter, but multiple close friends said that the former UN official who is residing in the UAE is not enthusiastic about holding the position of prime minister again pointing out that he has several conditions if he is approached in the coming weeks.
(ST)