Transitional Sovereignty Council in the context of List of heads of state of Sudan

The Government of Sudan is the federal provisional government created by the Constitution of Sudan having executive, parliamentary, and the judicial branches. Previously, a president was head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces in a de jure multi-party system. Legislative power was officially vested in both the government and in the two houses – the National Assembly (lower) and the Council of States (upper) – of the bicameral National Legislature. The judiciary is independent and obtained by the Constitutional Court.

However, following the Second Sudanese Civil War and the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan was widely recognized as a totalitarian state where all effective political power was held by President Omar al-Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP). However, al-Bashir and the NCP were ousted in a military coup on April 11, 2019. The government of Sudan was then led by the Transitional Military Council (TMC). On 20 August 2019, the TMC dissolved, giving its authority over to the Transitional Sovereignty Council, who were planned to govern for 39 months until 2022, in the process of transitioning to democracy. However, the Sovereignty Council and the Sudanese government were dissolved in October 2021, when General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan seized power in a coup d'état, dissolved the Sovereignty Council, and reconstituted it the following month with new membership, keeping himself as chairman.

The vice president of Sudan is the second highest political position obtainable in Sudan. Currently there is a provision for one de facto vice president, deputy chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, who is appointed by the chairman of the council. Historically (in the 1972–1983 and 2005–2011 periods) either the first or the second vice president was from Southern Sudan (now independent South Sudan). From 2011 until the abolition of the post in 2019, the second vice president was from Darfur.

Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdelrahman al-Burhan (born 1960) is a Sudanese military officer who has been the de facto leader of Sudan since 2019. Following the Sudanese Revolution in April 2019, he was handed control of the military junta, the Transitional Military Council, a day after it was formed, due to protesters' dissatisfaction with the establishment ties of initial leader Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf. He served as chairman of the TMC until a draft constitutional declaration signed with civilians went into effect on 17 August and a collective head of state Transitional Sovereignty Council was formed on 21 August, also to be initially headed by al-Burhan.

The 2020 Juba Agreement allowed al-Burhan to continue to lead the Sovereignty Council for another 20 months, rather than stepping down as planned in February 2021. Al-Burhan seized power in a coup d'état in October 2021, dissolved the Sovereignty Council, and reconstituted it the following month with new membership, keeping himself as chairman. He was formerly the General Inspector of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo Musa (born c. 1973-1975), commonly known by the mononym Hemedti, is a Sudanese military officer and politician who is serving as the chairman of the presidential council of the Government of Peace and Unity since 2025. He is also the military head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), one of the two main factions involved in the Sudanese civil war along with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

A Janjaweed chief from the Rizeigat tribe in Darfur, Hemedti was one of the warlords leading the Janjaweed in the war in Darfur and is accused by several organizations to be one of the perpetrators of the Darfur genocide (2003–2005). Hemedti later joined the RSF and has served as its military head since 2013. He took part in the revolution against President Omar al-Bashir, and, following the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état, became the deputy head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC). On 21 August 2019, the TMC transferred power to the civilian–military Transitional Sovereignty Council, of which Hemedti is a member. As of 2019, Hemedti was considered one of the richest people in Sudan via his company, al-Junaid, which had a wide array of business interests including investment, mining, transport, car rental, iron and steel. On behalf of the TMC, Hemedti signed a political agreement on 17 July 2019 and the Draft Constitutional Declaration on 4 August 2019, together with Ahmed Rabee on behalf of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), as major steps in the 2019 Sudanese transition to democracy. Under Article 19 of the Draft Constitutional Declaration, Hemedti and the other Sovereignty Council members would be ineligible to run in the next Sudanese general election. In September 2019, Hemedti helped negotiate a peace deal between groups in armed conflict in Port Sudan.