August 19, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - The Transitional Military Council (TMC), in the first hours of Monday, announced the postponement of the formation of the sovereign council for 48 hours at the request of the Forces for Freedom and Change.

Shams al-Din Kabbashi spokesperosn of the military council briefs the media together with Taha Osman a spokesperson of the Forces forFreedom and Change on 13 May 2019 (ST Photo)

This delay was announced in a statement read by TMC spokesman Shams al-Din Kabbashi at 02.30 AM after the withdrawal of the FFC of some names that had already been submitted to the military council.

"The Forces for Freedom and Change have withdrawn some nominees submitted to the Sovereign Council and requested a 48-hour deadline for handing over their final list of candidates to the Sovereign Council," said Kabbashi.

A large number of professional groups issued statements protesting the nomination of Taha Othman, a member of the FFC negotiating committee, to the Sovereign Council, stressing that his choice is against the principle of FFC non-participation agreed between the coalition forces.

Osman who is a lawyer, on Sunday night, declined to take part in the Sovereign Council, pointing to the objection raised by the different groups.

Disagreements over the Sovereign Council began after the rejection of the nomination of Mohamed Hassan al-Ta’ayeshi by some FFC forces on the grounds that he did not represent Darfur.

Al-Ta’ayeshi’s rejection led Fadwa Abdul Rahman Ali Taha, another nominee to decline to take part in the collegial presidency, stressing that the choice of nominees should not be based on the representation of a particular region.

Both Ta’ayshi and Osman are from the Darfur region.

(ST)