This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
On August 15, 2019, Sudan's protest leaders made a significant move towards establishing a transition government. According to two protest leaders who spoke to AFP, they agreed to nominate Abdalla Hamdok, a veteran economist and former deputy executive secretary of the UN's Economic Commission for Africa, as the first prime minister of the country's three-year transition government.
Hamdok, who stepped down as deputy executive secretary last year, is set to be formally selected on August 20. The nomination comes after the protest umbrella and a ruling military council agreed an outline power-sharing accord on July 17.
The compromise deal, which is meant to pave the way for civilian rule, mandates the protest umbrella to choose a prime minister to preside over Sudan's political transition. The deal is set to be signed in full on August 17.
Hamdok had previously been nominated by former President Omar al-Bashir to serve as finance minister, but he turned down the offer and stayed out of the overhauled cabinet that Bashir set up to tackle Sudan's dire economic crisis.
