El Burhan announces Sudan’s Transitional Partners Council members

The chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, has issued a decision to form a Transitional Partners Council (TPC) of 29 members.

The TPC will consist of six military members, the prime minister, 13 members from the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), and nine rebel group members who were signatories of the Juba Peace Agreement, signed in the capital of South Sudan on October 3.

The aim of the Council “is to direct the transitional period in a way that serves the supreme interests of Sudan, to resolve differences in viewpoints between the various parties, and to mobilise the necessary support for the success of the transitional period,“ according to the press release from the Sovereign Council.

Five military members of the Sovereign Council will have a seat in the TPC. The sixth military seat has been reserved for Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, Deputy Commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and brother of Mohamed ‘Hemeti’, RSF Commander-in-chief and Deputy Chair of the Sovereign Council.

Among the FFC members allocated a seat are Fadlallah Burma, Maryam El Sadig, Omar El Degeir, Ali El Sanhouri, Kamal Bolad, and Mohamed Naji El Asam.

Former rebel leaders Malik Agar, El Hadi Idris, Jibril Ibrahim, Minni Minawi, El Tom Hajo, El Tahir Hajar, and Khamis Abakar will be allocated a seat on the TPC.

Two seats have been reserved for eastern Sudan, which will be allocated once the Eastern Sudan Peace Conference is held. In September, Beja council member Karar Askar told Radio Dabanga that he expects that the conference will come up with recommendations that reject the accord on the Eastern Sudan Track, which is part of the comprehensive peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Sudan Revolutionary Front rebel alliance. The Eastern Sudan track accord was signed in Juba on February 21.

Northern Sudan will not be represented.

Reservations expressed

A meeting was held between Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and the Central Council of the Forces of Freedom and Change on Wednesday, to discuss the importance of preventing a transgression of the power of the country's constitutional institutions to the TPC.

Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok expressed reservations about the formation of the TPC, warning that he would boycott it if no substantial changes were made, according to Sudan Tribune.

"Hamdok informed the Central Council of the Forces of Freedom and Change that the TPC’s role should exclusively be coordinative and consultative. Also, it should not interfere in the activities of the executive, legislative organs nor the sovereign council," reliable sources told the news organisation.

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