Sudan moves towards forming Sovereign Council
August 18, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – The Freedom and Change Forces (FFC) Sunday have nominated their five candidates for the Sovereign Council and agreed on the 11the member of the collegial presidency.
However, the official appointment was delayed after the rejection of some FFC nominees by some opposition unions.
In statements to the official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA), Sattah al-Haj, an FFC negotiator, said that they handed over the list of their five nominees to the head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) Abdel Fattah al-Burhan who should issue a decree appointing the 11 members in the upcoming hours.
The five members are Aicha Musa, Sidiq Tawir, Hassan Sheikh Idris, Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman and Taha Osman.
Also, the joint meeting between the FFC and the TMC agreed on the 11th member of the Sovereign Council and chose Raja Nicola.
Nicola is a member of the Sudanese Copt minority. His choice meant to address a message of tolerance and peaceful coexistence to the Sudanese Christians who were persecuted during the former Islamist regime.
Al-Haj, further said that the TMC will be dissolved immediately after the swearing-in of the Sovereign Council to avoid a constitutional vacuum, as he said.
Some voices within the FFC protested the nomination of Taha Osman, a Darfuri lawyer member of the Sudanese Communist Party.
They said his nomination was against the charter agreed by the FFC to not participate in the transitional executive institutions.
Late on Sunday, Osman declined his nomination in response to the rejection of his person by several professional groups.
Following what the FFC, asked the head of the military council to delay the appointment of the Sovereign Council.
Until Wednesday evening, the TMC did not disclose the list of its five nominees. But, different sources say al-Burhan and his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, Yasir al-Atta, Shams al-Din Khabbashi and Salah Abdel Khaliq will be in the Sovereign Council.
According to the signed agreement, the head of the Sovereign Council should also appoint the prime minister with the members of his council.
(ST)