Sudanese parties agree on transitional political document
July 17, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – The ruling military council and the opposition Forces for Freedom and Change have reached an agreement on the Political Declaration for the transitional period as they will continue talks on the disputed constitutional during the week.
The deal which has been endorsed in the first hours of Wednesday will be initialled during the day, as the final signing will take place in a ceremony attended by regional leaders once an agreement is concluded on the constitutional declaration.
The political declaration includes the three institutions: sovereign council, government and legislative council. Also, it tackles the transitional period tasks such as peace, economic reforms and humanitarian relief. Further, it reaffirms the investigation of crimes committed against civilians after the collapse of al-Bashir’s regime last April.
One of the most important issues in the political document is the number of the members of the collective presidency or the Sovereignty Council which will be composed of 11 members: six civilians and five militaries. Each of the two sides will appoint five members and they will pick the eleventh civilian member by consensus.
Initially, the military junta insisted that the eleventh member should be a former military but the FFC rejected this restrictive stipulation.
The political agreement establishes a rotating presidency. The Transitional Military Council will appoint the chairman of the Sovereign Council for 21 months followed by a chairman chosen by the FFC for the remaining 18 months.
According to the document, an independent investigation committee will be established to probe the bloody attack of 3 June that resulted in the killing of over a hundred civilians at the main sit-in area in Khartoum.
The parties in the upcoming days will deal with the constitutional document which defines the attributions and powers of the three organs of the transitional authority.
The FFC recently voiced its opposition to the absolute political immunity given to the TMC members in a draft text released by the joint mediation. Different proposals have been made to make it reversible in case of involvement in human rights violations, killing or other crimes.
(ST)