Between restoring the old faces, and replacing them with new ones, the nominations list for the prime minister post in Sudan is growing.
Khartoum: Amal Muhammed al-Hassan
Amid news of the approaching political solution to the Sudanese crisis, the door to speculation was opened wide regarding the identity of the next Prime Minister for the second transitional period, and among names of impact and resonance, there were also completely new ones.
Hamdok’s Return
Former Prime Minister of the transitional government, Abdullah Hamdok, submitted his resignation after an agreement with the military on November 21st last year that faced public rejection.
Hamdok’s political incubator, represented by the Forces of Freedom and Change, also rejected the agreement and joined demands for the complete overthrow of the coup camp.
Abdullah Hamdouk’s name came to prominence again; the results of an unofficial vote to gauge public opinion showed that he had an approval rating of 66%
Sources close to Hamdok said he was reluctant to return to the prime minister’s post again, and denied rumors of his arrival in Khartoum this October.
Wishful Former Regime
The October 25th coup provided cover for the symbols and members of the former regime, bringing them back to the positions they were removed from.
Hundreds of bank balances were unfrozen and a number of former regime employees who were apprehended were released from prison.
The former regime’s prime minister, Muhammad Taher Eila, even returned to the public eye after years spent in Egypt following the fall of the regime, coming back to a public reception in the capital of the Red Sea State, Port Sudan.
What was beyond Eila’s defiance of arrest warrants issued by the prosecution was his name being presented as a possible candidate for the presidency of the transitional ministry; by members of civil entities.
Councilman Abdullah Obshar denied that they had submitted Eila’s name to the prime minister’s post, justifying his reception as the beloved son of the state and that the matter was done in a social context.
Obshar told AlTaghyeer that they had previously rejected the military’s demands for them to nominate a member to the Sovereignty Council following the October 25, 2021 coup.
“We have consistently rejected political quotas,” Obshar said.
Regarding the arrest warrant against Eila of the Prime Minister of the former regime, which has not been implemented so far, Obshar concluded that no one is above the law.
Observers believe that the rumors of Eila’s nomination were an attempt to cover for another candidate allied to the military, to be revealed later into what they hope is better acceptance.
A civilian candidate with a military background to head the Transitional Sovereignty Council, going by the name of Lieutenant-General Imad Adawi, was nominated.
This was not the first time that Adawi’s name had appeared; it was circulated before the fall of the ousted al-Bashir regime, with the start of the December revolution, as the best option that could replace the now-ousted president.
Adawi held the position of Chief of Staff of the Army before being dismissed by al-Bashir in 2018. He also held the position of Director of the Nimeiri Military Academy.
Civilian Options
Activists on social media circulated the name of the first finance minister in Hamdok’s government, Ibrahim Al-Badawi.
A source from the Umma Party, to which Al-Badawi belongs, told AlTaghyeer that this circulating nomination was not issued by the party.
It seems that those hopeful for Al-Badawi’s nomination for the position of the prime minister are looking for solutions to the economic conditions that deteriorated greatly after the coup.
Some from the Freedom and Change coalition, who had rejected Al-Badawi’s economic reform measures, will not support his return to any position in the next transitional government.
The Freedom and Change coalition also does not support Hamdok’s return to the premiership, attributing many failures in the previous period to his “distance from political work” and the differences they had with him.
For his part, the spokesman for the Central Council of Freedom and Change Forces, Sherif Muhammad Othman, said that the coalition was not preoccupying itself with the matter of the vacant prime minister position during this time.
He told AlTaghyeer that they were busy “uniting the broad anti-coup civil front” and trying to align their views in order to bring down the military coup and restore democratic civilian rule.
“We are currently working on developing reform visions to bring about structural changes in the justice system, reform the regular agencies, and form a single army,” Othman said.
Non-Partisan Competencies
Among new names suddenly cast was the name of the former deputy director of the Peace Research Institute at the University of Khartoum, Professor Manzal Assal.
Assal is a professor of social anthropology, has contributed to civic work, and is the recipient of local and international awards.
The man’s chances are higher in the event of an agreement being reached for a “technocrat” prime minister, especially in light of the insistence of the negotiating parties on a transitional government of “non-partisan competencies.”
A number of leaders from the Forces of Freedom and Change promised not to take any positions or fill any quotas in case of a political settlement.
These promises will be difficult for the forces to renege, out of fear of it affecting its already rocky relationship with the revolutionary street.
