The eleven-member Sovereignty Council of Sudan ( ar, مجلس السيادة السوداني) was the

collective head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

of Sudan from 20 August 2019, when it was created by the August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration, until 25 October 2021, when it was dissolved following the

October 2021 Sudanese coup d'état October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôct ...

. The Council was to have been the head of state for a 39-month transitional period, scheduled to end in November 2022. Under Article 10.(b) of the Draft Constitutional Declaration, it was composed of five civilians chosen by the

Forces of Freedom and Change The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC, also ''Alliance for Freedom and Change'', or AFC, and ''Declaration of Freedom and Change'', or DFC; ar, قوى إعلان الحرية والتغيير) is a wide political coalition of civilian and rebel ...

alliance (FFC), five military representatives chosen by the Transitional Military Council (TMC), and a civilian selected by agreement between the FFC and TMC. The chair for the first 21 months was a military member,

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman al-Burhan ( ar, عبد الفتاح عبد الرحمن البرهان, Abd al-FattāḥʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Burhān; born 11 July 1960) is a Sudanese politician and Sudanese Army general who is the ''de facto'' hea ...

, and for the remaining 18 months the chair was to be a civilian member, under Article 10.(c). The Sovereignty Council was mostly male, with only two female members:

Aisha Musa el-Said Aisha Musa el-Said (also ''Asha'', ''Ayesha'', ''Mousa'', ''Elsaid'', ''El Said'', ''Saeed'', ar, عائشة موسى السعيد) is a Sudanese translator and politician who served as a member of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, the country' ...

and

Raja Nicola Raja Nicola Eissa Abdel-Masih ( ar, رجاء نيقولا عيسى عبد المسيح) was a member of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, the country's collective transitional head of state, from 21 August 2019 to 25 October 2021. She was chosen ...

. Under Article 19 of the Draft Constitutional Declaration, the eleven Sovereignty Council members are ineligible to run in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

scheduled to follow the

transition period The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...

Background

Sudan had multi-member Sovereignty Councils holding the role of head of state of Sudan several times during the twentieth century. Following more than half a year of sustained civil disobedience and a shift of the presidency from Omar al-Bashir to the Transitional Military Council (TMC) in April 2019 by a coup d'etat, the TMC and the

alliance (FFC) made a July 2019 Political Agreement and completed it by the August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration. Articles 9.(a) and 10.(a) of the August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration both transfer the role of head of state to the Sovereignty Council.

Structure and membership

Article 10.(b) of the Draft Constitutional Declaration defines the Sovereignty Council to consist of five civilians chosen by the FFC, five military chosen by the TMC, and a civilian "selected by agreement" between the FFC and TMC. Under Article 10.(c) of the Draft Constitutional Declaration, for the first 21 months of the 39-month transitional period defined by the document, the chair of the Sovereignty Council was to be chosen by the five military members of the council. For the following 18 months, the chair was to be chosen by the five civilian members selected by the FFC. The military membership of the Sovereignty Council included General

, General

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ) , office = Deputy Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council , term_start = 11 November 2021 , term_end = , 1blankname = President , 1namedata = Abdel Fattah al-Burhan , predecessor ...

("Hemetti"), Lieutenant-General Yasser al-Atta, General

Shams al-Din Khabbashi Shams ( ar, شمس , links=no), an Arabic word meaning ''sun'', may refer to: Media * ''Shams'' (newspaper), a defunct Saudi newspaper * ''Al-Shams'' (newspaper), a Libyan government newspaper until 2011 * Network for Public Policy Studies, an ...

and Major-General Ibrahim Jabir Karim.

is the deputy chairman of the Sovereignty Council. The five civilians chosen by the FFC are

of the ''National Gathering Initiative''; Siddiq Tawer, a prominent member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Region of Sudan (and thereby a member of the

National Consensus Forces The National Consensus Forces (NCF, ''Ij’maa'') is a coalition of political parties in Sudan that opposed the rule of the National Congress Party, and was initially formed to stand against the NCP in the 2010 Sudanese elections. Farouk Abu I ...

) from the

Nuba Mountains The Nuba Mountains ( ar, جبال النوبة), also referred to as the Nuba Hills, is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the Middle Ages ...

South Kordofan South Kordofan ( ar, جنوب كردفان ') is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 158,355 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,100,000 people (2000).Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman of the ''Unionist Association'' from

Northern Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic ...

; Hassan Sheikh Idris (or ''Hassan Mohamed Idris''), a prominent member of the

National Umma Party The National Umma Party ( ar, حزب الأمة القومي , translit=Hizb al-Umma al-qawmmy; en, Nation Party) is an Islamic political party in Sudan. It was formerly led by Sadiq al-Mahdi, who served twice as Prime Minister of Sudan, and ...

(and thereby a member of ''Sudan Call'') from

Kassala Kassala ( ar, كسلا) is the capital of the state of Kassala in eastern Sudan. Its 2008 population was recorded to be 419,030. Built on the banks of the Gash River, it is a market town and is famous for its fruit gardens. Many of its inhabit ...

; and

Mohammed Hassan Osman al-Ta'ishi Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

of the

Sudanese Professionals Association The Sudanese Professionals' Association (SPA; ar, تجمع المهنيين السودانيين) is an umbrella association of 17 different Sudanese trade unions. The organisation started forming in October 2012, though was not officially regi ...

. Taha Othman Ishaq (or ''Osman''), a lawyer and member of the FFC negotiating committee, declined his nomination by the FFC to the Sovereignty Council on the grounds that the FFC alliance had earlier agreed that members of the negotiating committee should not become members of the Sovereignty Council.

was the civilian member of the Sovereignty Council mutually chosen by the FFC and TMC. The choice of Nicola, as a member of the Sudanese Copt community, is seen as a symbol of respect for diversity, in particular to Sudanese Christians. On 5 February 2021, al-Burhan issued a decree to add three new members to the Council. The new members are Sudanese Revolutionary Front leader El Hadi Idris Yahya, Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North leader

Malik Agar Malik Agar is a Sudanese politician and insurgent leader active in the insurgency in Blue Nile state. Second Sudanese Civil War Agar joined the Sudanese armed opposition shortly after the beginning of the Second Sudanese Civil War in 1983. I ...

, and Sudan Liberation Movement for Justice-Karbino leader El Tahrir Abubakr Hajar.

List of members

The council had fourteen members as follows: *

(chair) *

(vice-chair) * Yasser al-Atta *

* Ibrahim Jabir Karim *

* Siddiq Tawer * Mohamed al-Faki * Hassan Sheikh Idris * Mohammed Hassan al-Ta'ishi *

El Hadi Idris Yahya EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...

* El Tahrir Abubakr Hajar

Women's participation

The Sovereignty Council was mostly male, with two of the eleven members being female: Aisha Musa el-Said and Raja Nicola. At a lower level, Siham Osman was nominated Under-Secretary of the Minister of Justice, and acts on behalf of the Minister of Justice with his authorisation when he is on travels. The

Sudanese Women's Union The Sudanese Women's Union (SWU, ar, الاتحاد النسائي السوداني, transliteration: ''Aletahad Elnisa'i Assodani'') is a Sudanese women's rights organisation that is one of the biggest post-independence women's rights organisa ...

argued that women had played as significant a role as men in the political changes of 2019 and that Sudanese women "claim an equal share of 50-50 with men at all levels, measured by qualifications and capabilities".

Ineligibility in 2022

Under Article 19 of the August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration, the eleven members of the Sovereignty Council of the transitional period are forbidden (along with ministers and other senior transition leaders) from running in the 2022 Sudanese general election scheduled to end the transitional period.

Powers

Article 11.(a) lists 17 political powers held by the Sovereignty Council, including the appointment of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

, confirmation of leaders of certain state bodies, the right to declare war or a state of emergency, and signing and ratifying national and international agreements.

Separation of powers

On 24 October, the

(SPA) claimed that civilian members of the Sovereignty Council violated the constitutional constraints on their power by appearing to coordinate with

Rapid Support Forces , image = Rapid Support Forces emblem.png , image_size = , caption = RSF Seal , start_date = August 2013 , dates = , country = , allegiance = , branch = , command_structure = Sudanese Armed Forces , type = Paramilitary , role = , ...

(RSF) and override the Ministry of Health's role in managing

vector control Vector control is any method to limit or eradicate the mammals, birds, insects or other arthropods (here collectively called " vectors") which transmit disease pathogens. The most frequent type of vector control is mosquito control using a varie ...

against the spread of dengue fever and

chikungunya Chikungunya is an infection caused by the ''Chikungunya virus'' (CHIKV). Symptoms include fever and joint pains. These typically occur two to twelve days after exposure. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, and a ra ...

. The SPA stated, "the campaign appeared to be the scene of direct interaction of the SFwith the health situation in the concerned states, in the absence of health departments at the federal or state level. ... hewhole issue of health is not the prerogative of the Sovereign Council." '' Sudan Tribune'' expressed concern that the RSF and its leader Hemetti were trying to improve the RSF's image, damaged by its carrying out of crimes against humanity in the

War in Darfur The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups bega ...

and human rights violations during the 3 June 2019 Khartoum massacre.

Decision-making

Under Article 11.(c) of the Draft Constitutional Declaration, the Sovereignty Council makes decisions either by consensus, or when consensus is not possible, by a two-thirds majority (eight members).

Actions of the Sovereignty Council

The Sovereignty Council announced a state of emergency in

Port Sudan Port Sudan ( ar, بور سودان, Būr Sūdān) is a port city in eastern Sudan, and the capital of the state of Red Sea. , it has 489,725 residents. Located on the Red Sea, Port Sudan is recognized as Sudan's main seaport and the source of 90% ...

during tribal clashes which resulted in the death of 16 people on 26 August 2019. In November 2019,

Abdalla Hamdok Abdalla Hamdok Al-Kinani (also transliterated ''Abdallah'', ''Hamdouk'', '' AlKinani''; ar, عبدالله حمدوك الكناني; born 1 January 1956) is a Sudanese public administrator who served as the 15th Prime Minister of Sudan from 20 ...

's government repealed all laws restricting women's freedom of dress, movement, association, work and study. On 22 April 2020, the transitional government issued an amendment to its criminal legislation which declares that anyone who performs Female Genital Mutilation either in a medical establishment or elsewhere will be punished by three years' imprisonment and a fine.

Dissolution

On 25 October 2021, in the 2021 Sudan coup d'état, Sovereignty Council leader

dissolved the Council and declared that a new

technocratic Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...

government would be nominated.

References

External links

* {{Sudan topics Sudanese Revolution Heads of state of Sudan Collective heads of state