Sudan's opposition alliance names new prime minister

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – Sudan’s opposition Freedom and Change Alliance, on Thursday named Abdullah Hamdook as prime minister, in the transitional government.

"The structures of the Freedom and Change Alliance concerned with formation of the expected transitional authority have agreed on Abdullah Hamdook to assume the post of prime minister during the transitional period which extends for three years and three months," said the Sudanese Professionals Association, a major component of the opposition Freedom and Change Alliance, in a statement.

The opposition alliance and the Transitional Military Council (TMC) are expected to sign on Aug. 17, the final deal concerning the political and constitutional declarations, during the transitional period.

Hamdook, an alumni of the University of Manchester, was a senior official in the Sudan’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, during the 1980s.

He also held senior position at the African Development Bank and was the regional director for Africa and the Middle East of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance from 2003 to 2008.

He worked as director of regional integration and trade for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in 2001-2002, and UNECA deputy executive secretary from 2011-2018.

In September 2018, Hamdok was named as the minister of finance by the ousted President Omar al-Bashir, but he refused to accept the nomination.