Sudan’s government has appointed three new ministers, who were approved by its Transitional Sovereign Council on Monday.
Mohamed al-Faki, Council member and spokesman, said General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of the ruling sovereign council, has appointed Omer Gamar Eldin Ismail as state minister for the foreign affairs, Stephen Amin as state minister for labor, and Hazim Diab as state minister for the infrastructures.
Popular pressure is increasing against the cabinet and the sovereign council to complete the transitional authority structures in Sudan by forming the Legislative Council and appointing civilian governors to the states.
This has been greatly delayed by the armed movements’ insistence to sign the final peace agreement first.
The transitional government has been facing severe economic conditions in the capital and states, including the high cost of living, transport and bread crises, which some attribute to the failure to complete the institutions of civil governing.
Several trade unions and professional bodies, under the umbrella of the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), call for the urgent overthrow of the remnants of the isolated regime that still control major parts of governments in the country’s states.
The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), the ruling political alliance of civilian and rebel coalitions of Sudanese groups, is reluctant to take the step of forming the transitional parliament and appointing governors, fearing this would affect the peace process.
In other news, Official Spokesman of the Central Council of the FFC Ibrahim al-Sheikh expected the peace agreement between the transitional government and armed movements to be concluded in mid-February.
Sheikh said during a political forum in West Darfur state that the severe living conditions are among the most prominent issues facing the transitional government.
The FFC is currently concerned with a number of political cases mainly related to war and peace including all their complications and repercussions, he noted.
Meanwhile, negotiations have reached advanced stages as Sudanese government and Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) delegations, led by Malik Agar, met on Tuesday to discuss matters related to security arrangements in the country.
The government delegation was headed by Minister of Defense Lieutenant General Jamaleddine Omar, and the Popular Movement delegation was headed by a number of its leaders who are concerned with the security arrangements file.
The security arrangements file, which is considered a complex issue, involves arranging the positions of armed movement fighters and the merger and demobilization process in the regular forces, according to a program in which the United Nations takes part.