Summary

In widespread changes to Sudan’s government, rebel groups were integrated into the government, in accordance with the Juba peace agreement. Most notably, the cabinet reshuffle saw the post of finance minister go to Jibril Ibrahim, leader of the Islamist Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), with National Umma Party deputy leader Maryam al-Mahdi, the daughter of the late Sadig al-Mahdi, being given the foreign ministry. Sudan is continuing its anti-Islamist campaign through the Empowerment Removal Committee and the arrest of members of the former ruling National Congress Party (NCP), despite calls for Islamists to be re-integrated into the political scene. The solutions provided for Sudan’s democratic transition have ranged from calls for Hamdok to be more assertive in managing rifts within the government, as well as for the Cabinet to gain credibility through transparency and inclusivity.

New government

In a considerable shake-up of Sudan’s government following the Juba peace agreement, rebel groups were integrated into the Sudanese government’s executive bodies – the Sovereign Council and the Council of Ministers (Cabinet).

Three representatives of the armed movements were appointed to the ruling Sovereign Council - Alhadi Idris, a leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement, Malik Agar, head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction in the Blue Nile state, and Al-Taher Abu Bakr Hagar, president of Sudan Liberation Forces (AP, 4 February).

In Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s Cabinet reshuffle, rebel groups were given the mining, livestock, social development, education, infrastructure and federal government ministries as part of the Juba peace agreement. The post of foreign minister went to Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi, a leader of the Umma Party and daughter of former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi. Most notably, the newly appointed finance minister was announced as veteran Darfur rebel group the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader and Islamist Jibril Ibrahim. Formerly an economic advisor to JEM, Jibril’s appointment generated controversy as he was formerly an ally of former dictator Omar al-Bashir (Reuters, 8 February).

AP (8 February) raised the prospect of the appointments of Jibril and al-Mahdi to the finance and foreign ministries creating “some anxiety within the international community, given their Islamist-leaning background” as the transitional government seeks better ties with the US, Israel and the West. Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, said the two appointments are a “very risky and somewhat perplexing move,” because they occupy the two most important Cabinet positions that donors must have faith in.

Nonetheless, Ibrahim said he was he was committed to working with all of Sudan’s people and international partners to rejuvenate the economy, pledging to resolve current shortages of fuel, bread and affordable medicine (Bloomberg, 9 February).

The Empowerment Removal Committee

The government has continued its campaign against the remnants of Omar al-Bashir’s ousted regime. Sudanese authorities ordered the arrest of al-Bashir supporters accused of fuelling a wave of unrest and looting that struck at least five states (Bloomberg, 11 February). The committee responsible for dismantling the remnants of al-Bashir’s regime – the Empowerment Elimination, Anti-Corruption, and Funds Recovery Committee – issued a directive to its state branches to take criminal procedures via the Counter-Terrorism and Money Laundering 2014 Act, among other acts (Radio Dabanga, 12 February). Indeed, the authorities arrested several members of the dissolved National Congress Party (NCP) – including former Vice-President Hassabo Abdel-Rahman, and journalist Hussein Khojali, the owner of Omdurman TV satellite channel (Sudan Tribune, 13 February).

Nonetheless, the Empowerment Removal Committee still faces obstacles in its work. Chairman Lt Gen Yasir al-Atta, a member of the Sovereign Council, submitted his resignation after repeated criticism directed towards the committee. The Empowerment Removal Committee spokesperson Salah Manna accused the General Attorney Taj Elsir al-Hebir of obstructing their action, as well as accusing Sovereign Council chairman Lt Gen Abdulfattah al-Burhan and deputy chairman Himedti of ordering the release of al-Bashir’s wife Widad Babiker (Sudan Tribune, 5 February).

National Reconciliation with Islamists?

To further complicate Sudan’s anti-Islamist campaign, Minni Minnawi, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM), called for a ‘National Reconciliation; including the former ruling National Congress Party (NCP). Minnawi said that the NCP is “part of the Sudanese,” and that a reconciliation should discuss Sudan’s future (Sudan Tribune, 7 February). However, write Haider Ibrahim Ali was critical of the National Reconciliation, arguing that the Islamists is a “call for justice” that “provides lessons to deter a repeat of [al-Bashir’s 1989 coup]”. Ali further criticised the re-integration of Islamists under the guise of nationalism, arguing that the Islamists did not believe in nationalism when they were in power, citing the Sudanese citizenship granted to Tunisian Islamist Rached Ghannouchi, whereas this “right was denied to some honourable Sudanese who were rendered homeless around the globe”, and Sudanese youth were “deprived from the bounties of their country which were readily given to the members of terrorist groups” (al-Democratic, 16 February).

Solutions

Transparency and inclusivity:

Analysts Dimah Mahmoud and Jihad Mashamoun suggest ways for civilian ministers to “rebuild their wavering domestic credibility”. Calling for “complete transparency,” the authors suggest that the civilian government “outline to the people through forums and social media what they have achieved since their appointment and what are the remaining challenges.” The authors call for the incorporation of the Local Resistance Committees and active civil society groups working towards the pillars of the revolution through sizable representation in the Legislative Council (Africa Report, 23 January).

Cabinet credibility:

For Sudan’s new cabinet to gain credibility, Horn of Africa expert Joseph Tucker proposes that “effective coordination across ministries—perhaps via a more proactive Ministry of Cabinet Affairs—and transparent decision-making” would help ministers conduct reforms and “create a more stable environment for elections.” Tucker also calls for ministers to “push for the creation of outstanding government commissions, as well as institutions like the long-delayed Transitional Legislative Council,” which would “improve avenues for government oversight and public trust in both institutions” (United States Institute of Peace, 8 February).

New ways of political participation

Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper al-Democrati (28 January), Asma’a Juma’ah, calls for new ways of protesting. Juma’ah suggests that the government is pressured to put forward new youthful politicians, and that the government is helped in finding solutions. Examples suggested by Jum’ah include forming social and political working groups to supplement the resistance committees in pressing for the delivery and promotion of services. Jum’ah also suggests pressure for the formation of the government and a popular parliament selected from all the Sudanese territories, whereby popular parliamentarians can stage a sit-in at the gates of the parliament premises on behalf of the public.

Assertive Hamdok

Ashraf Abdulaziz, the editor of al-Jareeda (10 February), calls for Prime Minister Hamdok to be more assertive and transparent in resolving controversial matters his new government faces. Abdulaziz suggests that Hamdok should hold his ministers responsible for what they do and that she should not allow a repeat of the “chaos” of the previous government, which was argued to “waste time on the discussion of policies and controversies, causing the government to look inharmonious, thus impeding the mechanisms of implementation and drowns the Sudanese people in harmful differences.”