Gen. Abdel Al-Burhan appoints himself chairman of Sudan's ruling Sovereign Council

Sudan’s army head, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, issued a decree Thursday to form a new transitional Sovereign Council, appointing himself its Chairman.

Al-Burhan and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo,, known as Hameti, kept their positions they had in the previous Council.

The announcement did not include someone to represent the eastern part of the country, according to the Sudanese official television that said the representative will be appointed at a later date.

The new Council retained members from the previously dissolved Council, including Shams Al-Din Khabbashi, Yasser al-Atta, Jabir Ibrahim, Malik Agar, El-Hadi Idris Yahya, El-Tahir Hajar and Raja Nicola.

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Added were Yusuf Jad Karim, Abu El-Qasim Mohammad Ahmad, Abdul-Baqi Al-Zubair and Selmi Abdul-Jabbar.

Night time demonstrations were staged in the Sudanese capital in reaction to the formation of the Sovereignty Council.

Witnesses told Anadolu Agency that dozens of demonstrators took to the streets in the Kafuri, Kober, Jabra and Al-Kalakla neighbourhoods in Khartoum.

One witness said demonstrators carried national flags and chanted slogans denouncing the Council’s formation.

Al-Burhan was sworn in as head of the new Sovereignty Council.

“This evening, Lieutenant-General Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan Abdel-Rahman was sworn in as Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, in front of Abdelaziz Fateh El-Rahman Abdeen, Chief of the country’s judiciary,” according to a statement by the Council’s Media Office.

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The development comes after Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency on 25 October and dissolved the transitional Sovereign Council and government, triggering mass protests.

The move came amid mutual accusations between the military and politicians in the wake of a failed coup attempt in September.

Before the military takeover, Sudan was administered by a sovereign council of military and civilian officials which was overseeing the transition period until elections are held in 2023, as part of a precarious power-sharing pact between the military and the Forces for Freedom and Change coalition.