Two political coalitions call to involve military component in Sudan’s transition
October 8, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The National Consensus Forces (NCF) and the Sudanese Initiative for Constitutional Arrangements (SICA) on Saturday signed a political declaration calling to keep the 2019 constitutional declaration and form inclusive government involving the military leaders.
Various political forces made several proposals to reach a political consensus to pave the way for the formation of a new transitional government to end the constitutional vacuum created by the military seizure of power nearly a year ago.
The political declaration signed by the two coalitions called to amend the 2019 constitutional document and rejected a proposal by Sudanese lawyers for a new transitional constitution. They said that such a process would create complications that cannot be solved under the current state of fragmentation in the country.
The pro-coup groups call to keep the Constitutional Document of 2019 because the new draft constitution excludes the military component from the transitional government. The NCF and the SICA call to involve the coup leaders in a new cabinet.
The two parties, also, propose that the transition would last for 24 months, starting after the approval of the amended Constitutional Document.
They reiterated their commitment to holding a constitutional conference to produce a permanent constitution based on the values of freedom, peace and justice as well as reflecting cultural diversity.
In remarks delivered at the signing ceremony, SICA Head and Gaafar al-Mirghani, Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party stated that the two coalitions adhere to the civil state and called for the formation of a technocratic government.
Al-Mirghani who was a presidential assistant to the ousted President Omer al-Bashir stressed the need to end the constitutional vacuum in Sudan and urged the political forces to take concrete steps towards a solution, involving all the forces.
The Sudanese initiative includes the Democratic Unionist Party of Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani, a faction of the Republican Party, a faction of the Sudanese Baath Party, The Beja Congress- legitimate leadership and the Beja Congress Corrective Current, the Unionist National Party, the Group of Partners for Change and the Future, the White Brigade Party and the IDPs and Refugees Bloc.
For his part, the head of the NCF Liaison Committee Minni Minnawi renewed his call to hold a “Sudanese-Sudanese” dialogue to discuss the root causes of the Sudanese crisis since independence.
Minnawi who supported the October 25 coup further rejected calls to remove the military component from the transitional government.
“The military for the past sixty years have been part of the government,” he said before accusing political forces of exploiting the military establishment to reach power.
He urged the international community to support efforts aiming to bring the Sudanese to the negotiating table to agree on the formation of an inclusive government that does not exclude anyone to complete the transitional period.
Last July, the Sudanese military announced their withdrawal from a political process to form restore the civilian-led transition in Sudan and adding they would form a separate military body tasked with the security and defence matters and other powers to be negotiated with the would-be-formed government.
(ST)