Sudan: Burhan’s new committee stirs up dispute with PM Hamdok

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok rejected the move to create a new body with broad powers initiated by Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.

Al-Burhan recently established the Transitional Partners Council (TPC), a body dedicated to “managing the transitional period in a way that serves the interests of the country, resolving the disparity in viewpoints between the different parties, mobilising the necessary support for the success of the transitional period, and carrying out its tasks stipulated in the constitutional document and the Juba Peace Agreement.”

However, the transitional government on Saturday rejected the decision, saying that Al-Burhan had overstepped his position by conferring excessive powers to a new body, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Minister of Culture and Information and official spokesperson for the transitional government, Faisal Mohamed Saleh, said that Al-Burhan’s decision contradicts the “constitutional document” signed in August 2020 between pro-democracy activists and military leaders.

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Saleh continued in a statement: “It is our duty as Sudanese citizens first and as an executive body that the people of Sudan have entrusted with protecting the gains of the glorious December revolution, to declare our disagreement with the formation of the Transitional Partners Council in its current form.”

The minister explained that “what was discussed in the joint meeting between the Sovereignty Council and the Council of Ministers and was approved by us regarding the role of the Transitional Partners Council was limited to the creation of a coordination body to resolve disputes and differences between the parties managing the transitional period.”

Sudanese media reported that Hamdok informed the Forces of Freedom and Change Alliance (FFC) of his refusal to delegate powers to the TPC.

Political sources quoted the Sudanese MP as saying that the role of the TPC should be advisory only.