Sudan Military Forms New Sovereignty Council Two Weeks After Coup

(Photo by Reuters)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The Sudanese military, which staged a coup, has taken concrete steps to seize power by forming a new transitional body to lead the transitional period after two weeks.

On the 11th (local time), according to major foreign media, the military announced a new Sovereignty Council composed of 14 members.

General Abdel Fattah Burhan, the top military leader who led the coup, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and considered the second-in-command, retained their positions as chairman and vice chairman of the Sovereignty Council.

Although representatives of rebel groups and regional representatives who signed a peace agreement with the government last year were included in the council, no civilian members from the Sudanese civilian political coalition 'Forces of Freedom and Change' (FFC), which supports Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok's transitional government, were included.

In Sudan, the 30-year dictatorship ended with a military coup in 2019, leading to the establishment of a transitional government for civilian transfer of power. However, another coup occurred on the 25th of last month, two years later. The coup forces used military power to detain Prime Minister Hamdok and arrest senior officials.

Subsequently, the military declared a national state of emergency and announced plans to hold general elections in July 2023.

The British Guardian described the military's formation of a new Sovereignty Council, which will serve as the highest decision-making body and announced civilian transfer through the 2023 general elections, as a full-fledged move to consolidate power.

Sudan's geopolitical characteristics?bordering the 'Horn of Africa,' vulnerable to civil war and terrorism, and sharing a border with Egypt?have heightened concerns that this coup and the resulting political instability could ignite worsening conditions in neighboring countries.

In response, the United Nations Security Council held a closed emergency meeting just one day after the Sudanese coup, and the United States announced it would suspend $700 million in economic aid to Sudan, reflecting deep international concern.

The UN and the US subsequently dispatched special envoys to Sudan to mediate between the military and Prime Minister Hamdok and to restore the pre-coup regime, but no significant progress has been made yet.

Additionally, the Resistance Committees (RC), which led the movement to oust the Bashir regime, have planned a march of one million people from the 13th to the 17th, raising fears of a recurrence of the bloodshed that occurred immediately after the coup.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.