Chair of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council ‘unconstitutionally’ sacks two rebel members

Abdelfattah El Burhan, president of the Sovereignty Council and commander of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) dismissed rebel leader El Hadi Idris as council member on Friday. Hafez Abdelnabi, Minister of Animal Resources and Fisheries was removed from his position last week. While more dismissals are expected, both Idris and Abdelnabi call their dismissal ‘unconstitutional’. 

On Friday, El Burhan issued a constitutional decree relieving El Hadi Idris, who is also leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council faction and head of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebel alliance, from his position of member of the Sovereignty Council.

The Sovereignty Council president called on the signatories of the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) to nominate a replacement.

The member groups of the SRF signed the JPA with the Sudanese government headed by PM Abdallah Hamdok in the South Sudanese capital on October 3, 2020.

The accord stipulated that the leaders of the rebel movements would be appointed on high-level government posts. Malik Agar, El Hadi Idris, and El Taher Hajar became members of the Sovereignty Council. Jibril Ibrahim was appointed Minister of Finance, and Minni Minawi became Governor of the Darfur Region. Following the coup d’état in October 2021, jointly staged by the now warring SAF and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), most ministers and Hamdok resigned, but the former rebel leaders remained in their positions.

In October, El Burhan issued a decree ordering the military members of the Sovereignty Council to supervise the country’s ministries, currently operating from Port Sudan, capital of Red Sea state. The decree at the same time exempted council members Idris and Hajar from any supervisory duties. Observers expected that this step would be a prelude to their removal.

Idris participated in meetings of opposition political parties and civil society groups in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, last month, which agreed on forming a broad Civil Front to Stop the War between the SAF and RSF, that will be chaired by Hamdok.

Malik Agar, head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction in Blue Nile region, who was promoted to the post of vice president of the Sovereignty Council in end May, and Jibril Ibrahim, leader of the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement and Minister of Finance, are currently visiting China.

‘Unconstitutional’

Idris responded to his dismissal by saying that the decision to exempt him is a violation of the Constitutional Document, signed by military junta leaders El Burhan and RSF Commander Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) in August 2019 and updated after the signing of the JPA. “The decision to exempt, appoint and replace [rebel leaders] is the right of the forces that signed the JPA in 2020,” he said in a press statement on Monday.

“Any interference in the decisions of the SRF alliance means the collapse of the JPS,” he warned.

 “Moreover, a meeting of three military members of the Sovereignty Council and a fourth person belonging to the JPA signatories in Port Sudan cannot be considered a legal meeting of the Sovereignty Council.”

Idris explained that the 2019 Constitutional Document provides that all members of the Sovereignty Council collectively represent the head of state. The task of the president of the council is limited to chairing the meetings.

“Whoever led the coup d’état on October 25, 2021, also led the coup on April 15, 2023, in cooperation with elements of the former regime [of ousted President Omar Al Bashir, reportedly influencing the decisions of the SAF commanders],” Idris added.

“We refused to identify with the warmongers and join them in Port Sudan, where the war government is dominated by remnants [of the Al Bashir regime].”

Idrisfurther condemned the recent airstrike on his residence in Kafouri in Khartoum North, while FFC were present in the building that was partly destroyed.

Political scientist Salah El Doma confirmed to Radio Dabnga that the dismissal of El Hadi Idris from the Sovereignty Council is a clear violation of the JPA.

“The dismissal came after a series of violations of the JPA that de facto killed the agreement. This decision can be seen as stabbing a corpse.”

He said that “it is clear that former prominent members of the National Congress Party [of Al Bashir] and the deep state are the ones who took the decision to dismiss Idris, while el Burhan seems to be deprived of will power”.

He attributed Idris’ dismissal to his stance against the ongoing war. “His house was bombed earlier, he received threats and was intimidated, and when he did not respond, a decision was taken to exempt him.”

‘No competence’

Minister of Animal Resources and Fisheries Hafez Abdelnabi, who was sacked by El Burhan last Wednesday, also protested the decision. “It was issued by an incompetent body that lacks constitutional legitimacy,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

“The motives for issuing the decision to exempt me are due to ethnic classifications of a racist nature related to the April 15 war.”

He accused E Burhan of igniting the war in co-operation with the supporters of the Al Bashir regime and being “a docile tool in their hands” and also noted that the JPA is “in danger of complete collapse”.

Abdelnabi was deputy head of the Sudanese Alliance, a Darfur rebel group that joined the SRF in 2019. The head of the group, Khamees Abakar, was appointed governor of West Darfur. Abakar was brutally killed by RSF elements in El Geneina

‘Rumours’

The Sudanese news outlet TagPress reported on Monday about “ongoing big changes” within the SAF. Sources informed TagPress that Lt Gen Adam Haroun has been appointed commander of the Wadi Sedna military garrison and airport in northern Omdurman.

The sources also spoke about the possible appointment of Salah Gosh, the infamous director of the former National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) as head of the operations department are also circulating.