The signing of an agreement to resolve the situation in Sudan between military and civilian forces, which had been scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed for the second time in a week. A spokesman for Sudan's largest opposition movement, the Forces of Freedom and Change, said.
"The signing of the final political agreement between the Sudanese parties, which was scheduled for today, has been postponed," said a representative of the civil alliance, quoted by Al-Hadath. He added that the signing of the agreement was postponed due to "incomplete agreements between individual parties, in particular on security reform and military aspects." There have been no reports yet about possible new dates for the signing of the treaty.
The first date for the signing of the final treaty was announced as April 1, but the ceremony was postponed to Thursday, April 6, due to disagreements between representatives of the Sudanese army under the command of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sovereignty council (the country's governing body) and the rapid reaction forces under Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemetti), who is also vice chairman of the Sovereignty council.
Al-Hadath reported last night that substantial amendments were made to the draft final agreement during intensive negotiations in Khartoum, particularly on the future of the Sovereignty council, which must include six civilians, and on the composition of Sudan's highest legislative body, which under the new amendment must consist of 300 representatives, at least 40% of whom must be women.
However, the different views of the army and the Sudanese special forces on the formation of the joint armed forces have not yet been resolved. The disagreement between the sides essentially revolves around two main points: the timing of including the Special Forces units in the unified army, and whether it should be a professional soldier or a civilian president as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Situation in Khartoum
On the eve of the treaty signing date, security forces were put on high alert in the Sudanese capital, and additional checkpoints were set up in the city center by police. According to the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, the army has ordered all units to be on high alert and the army has cancelled leaves. It was also reported that the rapid reaction force was "redeploying" its formations in and around Khartoum. The number of Special Forces contingent near the Sudanese capital is about 60,000 soldiers.
On the night of October 25, 2021, the military arrested Prime Minister of Sudan Abdalla Hamdok along with a group of ministers and party leaders. The head of the Sovereignty council of the republic, al-Burhan, dissolved the supreme authorities and imposed a state of emergency in the country, suspending some articles of the constitutional declaration that defined the relationship between the military and civilian authorities.
In late November 2022, Hamdok again headed the government, but on January 2, amid political crisis, he announced his resignation, explaining that there were serious conflicts and contradictions among the parties during the transition period. Mass protests have continued in Sudan, with demonstrators demanding the immediate and complete removal of the army from political life, considering what happened a military coup.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Christopher Michel/Creative Commons 2.0
Based on materials from TASS