After calls to dissolve Hamdok's government, who has the authority to dissolve?

KHARTOUM -

Over the past two days, the demand to dissolve the government of Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has topped the political scene in the country, which is under pressure and successive economic and political crises.

The transitional government headed by Hamdok has been facing difficult challenges for weeks, foremost of which is the crisis in the east of the country, after the Beja tribe’s glasses council closed the seaports, the airport and the national road linking Port Sudan with the capital and the rest of the country.

Moreover, a political crisis is taking hold in Khartoum between the military and civilian components of the transitional authority, shortly before the scheduled date for the military to hand over the presidency of the Sovereignty Council to civilians in the council, according to the constitutional document governing the transitional period.

The crisis has disrupted the meetings between the two sides, and thus many decisions have stopped, as well as the growing demands for expanding the Freedom and Change coalition, the political incubator of the government, and dividing it into two parts.

In an attempt to remedy the worsening crisis, Hamdok held two meetings over two days with Al-Burhan and military leaders, to discuss the eastern crisis and address political differences, without providing details of what transpired in them.

express invitation

After the calls for dissolving the government were limited to the coordination of the Supreme Council of Beja Opticals, which adopts the closure in the east of the country, the head of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, announced the same call as the main way out to address the political crisis that has erupted in the country since last September 12.

Al-Burhan’s call was supported by the allegations of the hypothesis of the military rulers’ support for the supporters of the head of the Hondawa tribe, Muhammad al-Amin Turk, who demanded the dissolution of the government, the assignment of power to the military, and the abolition of the eastern path with the Juba Peace Agreement, in exchange for calm in the east, where the country’s only port and allowing the transit of products and consumer goods to the rest of Sudan.

Calls from within freedom and change

Demands continued to dissolve the government from the Movement of Freedom and Change - National Accord, a group that announced itself officially last week in what was described as a major split affecting the ruling coalition, after the joining of the two Sudan Liberation Movements led by the governor of Darfur, Minni Arko Minawi, and the head of the Justice and Equality Movement, Jibril Ibrahim, who He also holds the position of Minister of Finance, as well as other signatories to the peace agreement.

This group went even further by announcing a mass mobilization on October 16, to confirm its legitimacy in the face of the forces of freedom and change (the Central Council) on the other side, in a way that would complicate the political scene in light of the talk of great support for this group of evidence. and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, "Hemedti."

Meanwhile, the Communist Party called for a second mass rally on October 21 to commemorate the 1964 revolution that overthrew the rule of former President Ibrahim Abboud.

It is known that the Communist Party left the Alliance for Freedom and Change and adopted calls for the overthrow of Hamdok's government, but subsequent meetings that brought together party leaders with the prime minister and his advisors succeeded in softening his positions to a large extent.

The meeting of the Friendship Hall in Khartoum to inaugurate the parallel political charter for the dissidents from the Forces of Freedom and Change (Al-Jazeera)

Constitutional Graduation

The constitutional document that governs the transitional period sets conditions for membership in the Council of Ministers and for its loss, talking about this in Articles 17 and 18.

The latter detailed the reasons for losing the membership of the Council of Ministers, by the prime minister resigning and his resignation being accepted by the Sovereignty Council, the minister’s resignation and acceptance by the prime minister and the approval of the Sovereignty Council, or the minister’s dismissal of the prime minister and the approval of the Sovereignty Council, or the withdrawal of confidence from the Legislative Council (not formed) by a two-thirds majority, as well as other grounds relating to judicial conviction or illness.

According to the constitutional document, the transitional government is appointed after nominations submitted by the Alliance for Freedom and Change - the ruling coalition - to the prime minister who chooses from its list, which should include 3 names for each ministry, while the parties to the peace agreement nominate 25% of the formation along with the ministries of defense and interior, which The military component chooses them.

Who rules?

But after the recent split in the ruling coalition, intense debate erupts over who represents freedom and change?

Who has the power to dissolve the government?

Is it possible to replace the political incubator with another?

Who is the Prime Minister entitled to receive the list of candidates?

In an attempt to remedy this complex situation, Al Jazeera Net learned that Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok is arranging to invite the two parties to Freedom and Change for two separate meetings today, Tuesday, before holding a joint meeting with them.

A leader in the Central Council for Freedom and Change stated - to Al Jazeera Net - that the group led by Minawi and enjoys the support of the military does not have the right to speak in the name of the ruling coalition, because it is mainly from its ribs and is considered a third partner in the coalition, and accordingly it was represented by 25% of the executive authority, and said that The two upcoming meetings in which the leaders of the Central Council will focus on this part to prevent any efforts to replace the political incubator.

The leader of the Sudanese Congress Party, Noureddine Salah El-Din, holds military leaders in the Sovereignty Council responsible for the turmoil that the scene is currently witnessing, saying that it wants in one way or another to change the current constitutional structure, especially with regard to the manufacture and enactment of legislation that is currently being held for the joint meeting between the Sovereignty Councils and Ministers in Absence of the Legislative Council.

And he adds in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, "This is a very dangerous issue, because it could afflict the issues of civil and democratic transition to the abyss."

Noureddine believes that the right to exempt the government is reserved for the prime minister, and no party can interfere in that or impose its will on him, adding, "I think that if the prime minister needs to make a change, it will take place within the framework of the general assessment of his government's performance, not in response to any pressure exerted by certain components." .

But the Political Secretary of the Future Movement Party, Naji Mustafa Al-Badawi, expresses a different opinion, confirming that Al-Burhan has the right to dissolve the government, and he explains to Al-Jazeera Net that Article 12 of the constitutional document states that among the powers of the Sovereignty Council is the appointment of the prime minister and the approval of cabinet members, and of course - as Mustafa says - Whoever has the authority to approve has the authority to cancel, and the Sovereignty Council can, by a simple majority, issue a decision to dissolve the government.

The constitutional document regulates the relationship between the two parties to the transitional authority in Sudan until elections are held in 2024 (Reuters)

Document controversy

Al-Badawi goes on to say that the document spoke in Article 14 of the prime minister losing eligibility when one of the conditions of membership is lost, and in Article 12 it was indicated that the Sovereignty Council appoints the prime minister chosen by the Forces of Freedom and Change, and continues, “Now it is unknown who is the body that It represents freedom and change. After the emergence of a new body, it can appear to the Sovereignty Council that Hamdok's appointment was made through a fictitious and unregistered body, allowing him to issue a decision to lose the prime minister's membership, which also applies to his government ministers, and thus dissolve the government.

Nevertheless, Mustafa says that Al-Burhan will not resort in any way to using his powers to dissolve the government or dismiss Hamdok, given the level of coordination between the two men. and international.”

However, Noureddine Salah El-Din does not acknowledge the existence of a division that affected freedom and change in a way that leads to the scenario that Naji Mustafa spoke about, and "in his opinion, the matter is nothing more than the presence of two political bodies, namely the Liberation of Sudan and Justice and Equality, who chose to stand in the wrong place at this stage." of the country's history.

He says, "As for us in freedom and change, and after the political and organizational reviews that we culminated in by signing the political declaration, and with the return of the National Umma Party and the Revolutionary Front to their political activity within the alliance, freedom and change are at their best in terms of consensus in their political orientation and organizational satisfaction."