Sudan: 12 cabinet ministers resign in protest of deal with army

 Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan n Abdalla Hamdok

23 Nov 2021; MEMO: As many as 12 Sudanese ministers resigned yesterday in protest of the deal concluded between the reinstated Prime Minister, Abdallah Hamdok, and the head of Sudan's ruling military council, General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.

On Sunday, Hamdok concluded a political agreement with Al-Burhan to end a nearly one-month-long crisis that threatened to undermine the country's political transition.

On 25 October, Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency, dissolved the Sovereignty Council and arrested the country's party leaders, ministers and officials, in what many have described as a coup.

While Sunday's deal was largely welcomed by the international community, Sudanese political forces have rejected it as an "attempt to legitimise the coup".

The resigned ministers include the ministers of foreign affairs, justice, agriculture, irrigation, investment and energy, higher education, labour, transport, health, youth and religious affairs.

The statement said the five ministers of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition, which had shared power with the military council before last month's military takeover, were unable to attend yesterday's cabinet meeting.