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Peace Partners in Sudan Urged to Speed Up Govt Formation

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (AP)
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (AP)
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Peace Partners in Sudan Urged to Speed Up Govt Formation

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (AP)
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (AP)

The ruling coalition and peace partners in Sudan have exceeded the time limit stipulated in the Juba Peace Agreement to form the new government by two weeks.

This delay has prompted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to call on all parties to speed up the government formation and avoid a political vacuum in the country.

He urged the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) to scrutinize the candidates swiftly while adhering to the standards of competence, qualification, experience, integrity, and observance of the equitable participation of women.

“The political vacuum caused by the delay in announcing the new government has contributed to the deterioration and the exacerbation of the living, economic and security conditions.”

Hamdok’s remarks were in reference to the renewed tribal conflicts in Darfur, which led to dozens of casualties.

Under the peace agreement signed by the Sudanese government and several armed groups affiliated with the SRF in Oct. 2020, both sides will share power.

It stipulates that the armed movements will be granted 25 percent representation in the cabinet, two portfolios (defense and interior) to be headed by the military component, 17 seats for the FFC, and three seats were agreed to be allocated to the Transitional Sovereign Council, while the Transitional Legislative Council was granted 75 percent representation.

Therefore, the new cabinet is expected to include 26 ministries instead of 20.

Meanwhile, leaders from the ruling FFC coalition said that during last week’s meeting with Hamdok, parties agreed to form the government one week, given the challenges faced by the country.

Leading member in the Unionist Alliance Jaafar Hassan, for his part, strongly denied that the FFC was behind the delay in the new government formation.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that his alliance had already completed naming its candidates for the ministries and was waiting for approval by its Central Council.

Hassan pointed out that FFC was waiting for the National Umma Party’s list of candidates to present a unified list for the Premier to choose among these candidates, according to the agreed upon criteria.

Cabinet sources have revealed that the Umma Party is demanding six of the 17 FFC seats.

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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.