Female member of Sudanese ruling council resigns

Aisha Musa, one of only two women on Sudan’s ruling Sovereignty Council said on Saturday she was resigning, as she accused the military-dominated transitional government of ignoring civilian voices.

The 14-member military-civilian council was set up along with a cabinet of technocrats to steer Sudan through a transition after the army toppled long-serving autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019 following months of popular protests.

“The civilian component in the sovereign (council) and at all levels of government has become just a logistical executive body that does not participate in decision-making,” Aisha Musa said in a video statement carried by the state news agency SUNA.

“Rather it only stamps the approval of pre-prepared decisions,” she added.

Musa said she had submitted her resignation on May 12, a day after the killing of two protesters who had been marking the anniversary of a deadly raid on a protest site during the 2019 uprising. She accused the transitional authorities of leading the country to “more killing, injustice, poverty and suffering.

Musa complained that the investigation into the 2019 raid had not yet been completed and its results revealed. Activists say 130 people died in that raid and ensuing violence; the authorities have acknowledged 87 deaths.

Medics, protest groups and eyewitnesses have said security forces fired live rounds and tear gas at demonstrators marking the anniversary this month.

Musa also accused the transitional authorities of delaying the formation of the Legislative Council, the third body constituted in the power-sharing agreement alongside the Sovereignty Council and the cabinet.

There was no immediate response from the Sovereignty Council to Musa’s resignation.

Suzan O/AJZ