Sudan’s new Cabinet was sworn in Sunday, five months after the military ousted longtime president Omar al-Bashir. Can the new ministers win acceptance and guide Sudan to elections in 2022?
The new Cabinet was set up under a power-sharing agreement between the military rulers who ousted Bashir and pro-democracy protest leaders.
Political analyst Mohamed Abdelrahman thinks the new cabinet is winning wide acceptance in Sudan – and that the ministers should use this acceptance to build a strong, representative government.
The post al-Bashir era has witnessed many changes. The situation could get complicated and reach a peak that could lead to a serious turn, Abdelrahman says. Sudan could pass this dark tunnel by the new cabinet sworn in, which has the widest public acceptance since Sudan independence. The new government should work on the comprehensive reconciliation and the social development, he adds.
Democracy supporters like Fifian Yousif celebrated the formation of the cabinet Monday. Yousif expressed confidence in the choices by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
She says forming the cabinet is a very progressive step towards democracy, even if it was affected by political shares and interventions, but Hamdok is an expert and economist, and the cabinet names he chose are qualified and experts. Yousif hopes to see international and regional support for the new cabinet and the lifting of imposed sanctions by the U.S., as long as the cabinet is a civilian government.
The cabinet has four women among the eighteen ministers, in the positions of foreign affairs, higher education, youth and sports and social welfare.
Protesters like Sawsan Misbah see this as a good sign.
Misbah says as a woman who participated in the uprising, she thinks female representation in the new government is very good, as they were part of the change in Sudan. Misbah thinks that women will be part of the upcoming change and it’ll be fundamental one.
Like every step of Sudan's 2019 revolution, formation of the cabinet was preceded by weeks of negotiations and delays.
The next step is creation of a legislative body with 300 members, due to be set up within the next three months.
Meanwhile, the trial of former president Bashir on corruption charges has been postponed to next week, as his defense seeks to have his past confessions thrown out of court.