Sudanese civilian forces to form negotiating team for talks with military
November 27, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The signatories to the political declaration in Sudan agreed to form a team tasked with negotiating with the military component and set criteria for selecting the prime minister and the government’s program.
The initial signatories to the constitutional framework and political declaration including the FFC groups, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) faction led by Alhassan al-Mirghani, Popular Congress Party (PSP), the Republican Party, and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front held a meeting on Sunday with the tripartite facilitation mechanism of the AU, IGAD, and UNITAMS.
In statements after the meeting, PCP Acting Secretary-General Nawal Khidir told Sudan Tribune it was the first official meeting between the Trilateral Mechanism and the members of the civilian forces signatory to the political declaration.
Khidir added that the meeting of the initial signatories aims to achieve an inclusive agreement on the transitional government fulfilling the military’s condition to hand over power to civilians.
The PCP secretary-general disclosed that the civil bloc forces agreed to form a joint committee to discuss with the military component the amendments they proposed to the draft transitional constitution.
She added that the meeting further decided to move swiftly in setting criteria for selecting the prime minister, and the transitional government program.
The FFC mainstream and the other signatories held consultations during the past weeks to ink the text of the political declaration, which the military component accepted as the basis for talks on the restoration of a civilian government.
The National Umma Party, which hosted the meeting, issued a short statement saying the participants stressed the need for a conducive environment especially ending the use of excessive violence against protesters and releasing detained FFC leaders.
“We, also, started discussions about defining the priorities of the transitional period, such as the issue of the East,” added the statement.
Only the Justice and Equality Movement of Gibril Ibrahim and the Sudan Liberation Movement of Minni Minnawi reject the Sudanese lawyers’ draft constitutional proposals saying they want to maintain the 2019 constitutional declaration.
They also formed a new coalition with a DUP faction led by Gaffar al-Mirghani, amid reports that Egypt encouraged the latter to join the two former rebel groups in a bid to torpedo the QUAD-supported draft transitional constitution.
(ST)