Sudan quartet calls for inclusive political declaration
December 16, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America and the United Kingdom called the adoption of a political declaration involving all the forces of the 2019 civilian-military partnership.
According to the framework agreement signed by the coup leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, a political declaration should be adopted to determine a framework for the civilian-military partnership during the transition.
In a joint statement, the four countries urged Hamdok and al-Burhan to live up to the commitments made in their agreement and to swiftly lift the state of emergency, ahead of a national demonstration on 19 December to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the revolution in Sudan.
“We also urge early progress towards the political declaration and partnership framework promised in the 21 November agreement, and stress the importance of inviting all components of the 2019 civilian-military partnership to participate in this dialogue process,” stressed the statement
The ongoing consultations for the political declaration have been conducted by a group including former rebels in Darfur supporting the coup and some political parties besides the military but exclude the FFC groups which reject the 21 November agreement.
Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on October 25 dissolved the transitional government of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) after they staged a campaign calling on the military to transfer the chairmanship of the Sovereign Council to civilians and to implement the reform of the security sector.
The quartet called the Sudanese parties to publish a credible roadmap towards elections in late 2023 or early 2024.
The focus on peace and the economic situation prevented the two former Hamdok governments from launching the preparation for the transition.
The statement called to not use violence against the ongoing protests calling for a civilian-led transition.
Prime Minister Hamdok earlier this week stated that his new cabinet will be formed after the political declaration.
(ST)