After series of delays, two sides sign accord creating governing body with talks ongoing for constitutional declaration.
Sudan’s ruling generals and an alliance of opposition groups signed an accord on Wednesday creating a transitional power-sharing body after weeks of negotiations and deadly protests.
The deal is aimed at breaking the political deadlock that has gripped the country since the toppling of President Omar al-Bashir in April. The two sides signed the document after intense overnight talks in the capital, Khartoum, over the details of an agreement reached earlier this month to establish a joint military-civilian sovereign council that will rule the country by rotation.
The 22-clause accord, seen by Al Jazeera, said the 11-member governing body will rule the country for just over three years, after which elections will be held. The military appears to have the upper hand following tense negotiations and a deadly crackdown last month, in which security forces violently dispersed the protesters’ main sit-in outside the military headquarters. Protest organisers say security forces killed at least 128 people. Authorities put the death toll at 61, including three members of the military. The two sides have agreed on a Sudanese investigation into the violence, but have yet to outline its scope.
The body will have a total of six civilians, including five from the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) and five soldiers from the Transitional Military Council (TMC). The body will be headed by a general during the first 21 months of the transition, followed by a civilian for the remaining 18 months.
The umbrella protest movement will nominate the prime minister, who will name a cabinet of 20 ministers, excluding the interior and defence ministers, the accord said. Soldiers on the council will appoint the two officials. The TMC and the protest movement are still negotiating over a much more contentious document, the constitutional declaration, which is expected to be signed on Friday, according to an African Union mediator. Salah Eddin Elzein, a Sudanese political affairs analyst, told Al Jazeera there’s “a lot of work to be done”.
“Most of the sticking points were supposed to be addressed in the constitutional declaration,” he said……
Source: arabnews.com
