FFC groups to press prime minister on Sudan civilian governors

March 5, 2020 (KHARTOUM)- A leading member of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) said they will meet the Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok to discuss the awaited appointment of civilian governors.

Hamdok and the coalition that brought him to power diverge on the timing of the appointment of civilian governors as the FFC are pressed by their bases to replace military governors while Hamdok prefers to appoint them after a peace agreement with the armed groups.

“We asked for a meeting as soon as possible with the Prime Minister to resolve the appointment of civilian state governors,” said Siddiq Youssef, in statements to Sudan Tribune, on Wednesday.

Youssef emphasized that the delayed appointment of civilian governors until now has become a problem, in light of the failure of the government and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) to reach understandings on the appointment of temporary governors to the states.

He pointed out that the assignment of state governors can no longer wait, as the negotiating parties in Juba agreed to amend the Constitutional Declaration governing the transitional period.

“If the expected peace agreement provides to reshuffle the governors that we wish to assign, then the change will take place,” he emphasized.

Siddiq and other members of the FFC leadership council recently returned from the South Sudanese capital after a series of meetings with the SRF leaders.

The two sides failed to agree on the percentage that the FFC can concede to the armed groups who want to have 40% of the government positions.

Last Tuesday Shams al-Din Khabbashi a member of the Sovereign Council who is also a member of the government negotiating team said that the prime minister told them he will not appoint civilian governors before the signing of a peace agreement.

(ST)