Sudan’s signatories launch final political agreement drafting
March 23, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The joint committee to draft the final political agreement held its first meeting on Thursday at the presidential palace in the capital, Khartoum.
The civil and military forces involved in the political process agreed to sign the final agreement on the first of next April, the draft constitution on the sixth of April, and to form a civilian government on the 11th of the same month.
In a statement after the meeting, the spokesman for the political process in Sudan, Khalid Omer Youssif, said that the committee drafting the final agreement held a first meeting at the republican Ralace.
Youssif said that the drafting committee of the final agreement consists of 11 members of the civilian forces that signed the framework agreement, and a representative of both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.
The structure of the agreement consists of “a draft final political agreement containing the chapters of the framework agreement with an expanded explanation, a preamble and a section to the final provisions, as well as five annexed protocols that address the five issues based on the recommendations of workshops and conferences of the final phase of the political process,” he further said.
The purpose f the ongoing political process is to restore a civilian transitional government ending the military coup of October 25, 2021.
The process is challenged by a political coalition, Democratic Bloc, led by two groups signatory to the Juba peace agreement as they call to involve them and their political allies.
The non-signatories call to include the 16 groups of the Bloc saying they refuse that the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) control the process.
Recently they vowed to organize protests to resist the would-be-formed new transitional government.
Mubarak Ardol on March 21 confirmed to al-Jazeera TV, they had refused an offer by the FFC to represent the Democratic Bloc by six groups and call to include all the non-signatories.
“If the (FFC) participate (in the government) with its 16 or 17 organizations, and the Democratic Bloc has – let us say- up to 10 organizations, the first will retain a mechanical majority in the decision-making mechanism and dictate its choices on others,” he said explaining why they want all their groups to participate in the process.
Several sources confirmed to Sudan Tribune that the FFC proposed to integrate into the political process four additional groups besides the Sudan Liberation Movement of Minnin Minnawiand the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) of Gibril Ibrahim.
The four groups are the Democratic Unionist Party of Gaffar al-Mirghani, Beja Chiefdoms Council of Mohamed Terik, Tijani al-Sisi head of the National Movement Forces and a signatory of the Doha peace agreement and Alamin Daoud head of the United Popular Front for Liberation and Justice which represents the Beni Amer tribal group of eastern Sudan.
The parties to the political process say they will not interfere in the action of the new government as it would be only responsible before the transitional legislative council which would be formed as soon as the government is appointed.
(ST)