By Khalid Abdelaziz

After seizing power on Oct. 25, Sudan’s military rulers drew on veteran ex-officials of toppled leader Omar al-Bashir for important positions in the state bureaucracy.

Hamdok, who was arrested during the coup and then reinstated under a deal with the military reached on Sunday, issued a directive to freeze all hiring and dismissals in state jobs.

“In addition, all the appointments and dismissals that have taken place in the previous period will be placed under study, evaluation and review,” said the secretariat.

Hamdok is also due to name a cabinet of technocrats under his deal with the military, but faces a challenge winning support from civilian groups.

Sudan’s pro-democracy protest movement, which is planning more rallies on Thursday, has stated its opposition to the agreement, as have political parties that had been sharing power with the military before the coup.

The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition denied on Wednesday that its leadership was represented in a meeting reported by Hamdok’s office the previous evening to discuss next steps.

“The (FFC) central council repeats its position rejecting negotiation and participation with the putchists,” the alliance said in a statement, calling on people to escalate peaceful resistance against the military leadership.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Alex Richardson)