The transition to a civilian power in Sudan is under way. Born of the historic agreement between the military and the protest, it concretely took shape Wednesday, August 21 with the enthronement of the Sovereign Council. Then the economist Abdallah Hamdok was invested prime minister in the evening. He will lead a transitional government in this country headed for thirty years, until April 11, by the now dismissed General Omar el-Bashir.

>> To see: "Transition in Sudan: General Al-Burhan invested at the head of the Sovereign Council"

The Sovereign Council thus replaces the Transitional Military Council. The country is no longer exclusively military-led, for the first time in three decades, even though the army must first retain the lead of the new body.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was sworn in

Unsurprisingly, the outgoing Chief of the Military Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, was sworn in as president of the new Sovereign Council shortly after 11:00 am (9:00 am GMT).

Dressed in his military uniform and wearing his usual green beret, he was enthroned during a short ceremony, a hand on a copy of the Koran and a marshal's staff under his arm. The other members of the new body - six civilians and five military - were sworn in soon after.

The new phase in Sudan will require "concerted efforts by the people to unite and build a strong state," he said, calling for a pluralist democracy.

Under the terms of the agreement officially signed Saturday, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan will be in charge of the Council for 21 months and a civilian will succeed him for the rest of 39 months of transition.

The formation of this body comes after months of demonstrations demanding a civil power, against a backdrop of economic crisis.

Indoor and outdoor challenges

The path remains full of pitfalls. The Sovereign Council, which includes two women, one of whom is from the Christian minority, will oversee the formation of the government - an announcement is expected on August 28 - and a transitional parliament. He will also have to try to get the country out of isolation on the international scene.

Sudan has suffered decades of US sanctions. In 2017, the economic embargo was lifted but Washington keeps the country on the black list of "states supporting terrorism".

In addition, the African Union suspended Sudan from the pan-African organization in June, days after the deadly dispersal of a sit-in protestors in Khartoum.

According to a committee of doctors close to the protest, 127 people were killed on June 3 during this crackdown in front of the headquarters of the army. The death toll has risen to more than 250 during the eight-month-long revolt, according to the same source.

On the domestic front, the new authorities will have the difficult task of straightening a bloodless economy and pacifying a country still marked by several conflicts.

The inauguration of the new council has been well received in the streets but residents have warned that they will remain vigilant.

The trial of Omar al-Bashir opened

"If the Council does not meet our aspirations and serves our interests, we will not hesitate to make another revolution," said Ramzi al-Taqi, a fruit salesman. "We will overthrow the Council just as we did with the old regime."

The new institutions are being set up at the moment when the trial of Omar al-Bashir, who came to power in a coup and led the country for 30 years, has begun.

He appeared in a court in Khartoum on Monday to answer charges of corruption. According to investigators, he admitted receiving $ 90 million in cash from Saudi Arabia, outside the state budget.

His trial, however, does not concern charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the region of Western Darfur, which the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been seeking for a decade.

Amnesty International has urged Khartoum to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC, which would transfer Omar al-Bashir to this court.

Despite the euphoria, fears remain in the camp of the protest because of the omnipresence of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, leader of a dreaded paramilitary force, who was appointed to the Sovereign Council.

Since April, he was number two of the Transitional Military Council, and it is he who co-signed Saturday the agreement with the challenge.

Its Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are accused of involvement in the suppression of the protest, and crimes in Darfur under the regime of Omar al-Bashir.

With AFP