New Appointments… A Step Toward Reform
On Wednesday, the Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, issued a decision appointing Ambassador Dafallah Al-Haj Ali Osman as Minister of Cabinet Affairs, and tasked him with acting as Prime Minister.
Al-Burhan also approved Cabinet decisions appointing Ambassador Omar Mohamed Ahmed Siddiq as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Al-Tuhami Al-Zein Hagar as Minister of Education, according to a statement from the Sovereignty Council’s media office.
These changes represent the most extensive government reshuffle since Al-Burhan appointed a caretaker government in early January 2022.
The selection of Ambassador Al-Haj Ali as acting Prime Minister had been leaked from sources close to the authorities in Port Sudan, indicating that his name was discussed discreetly.
Prime Minister
Al-Haj Ali steps into this high office from his current post as Sudan’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Key milestones in his career include serving as Undersecretary of the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2022 to 2023, and as Sudan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 2010 to 2013.
He was also a member of the Sudanese government’s negotiating delegation at the Jeddah Platform talks in May 2023, shortly after the outbreak of war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces.
Al-Haj Ali previously served as Sudan’s Ambassador to France, Pakistan, South Korea, and at the country’s permanent mission in Geneva.
The new acting Prime Minister is not known to be affiliated with any specific political party, although there are reports suggesting close ties to the regime of ousted President Omar al-Bashir.
In previous statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, Transitional Sovereignty Council member and Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the army, Ibrahim Jaber, said a new Prime Minister would be appointed “very soon,” who would not belong to any political party or organization, and would form a government of independent civilian experts without external interference.
Following the October 25, 2021 coup, Al-Burhan reappointed 15 acting ministers after a few months, while preserving the ministerial quotas of armed factions that signed the 2020 Juba Peace Agreement. The newly appointed acting ministers replaced those selected by the civilian Forces of Freedom and Change alliance, which had been part of the government before the coup.
Minister of Foreign Affairs
The new Foreign Minister, Omar Siddiq, previously served as Sudan’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and South Africa, and was Sudan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 2019.
Recent amendments to the 2019 Constitutional Document, which sparked wide controversy in Sudan, granted the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the authority to appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister upon recommendation from the Cabinet and the legislative authority.
In mid-April, Al-Burhan dismissed Foreign Minister Ali Youssef and Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments Omar Bakhit.
Reports from sources close to decision-making circles within the Sovereignty Council suggest that further dismissals affecting five ministers in the current caretaker government are expected soon.
