Lack of consensus delays signing of Sudan political agreement
Khartoum, Apr 1 (EFE).- The signing of a final political agreement to end the conflict in Sudan was delayed due to a lack of consensus on some issues, the spokesperson for the political process said Saturday in a statement.
The spokesperson, Khaled Omar Youssef, said military leaders and pro-democracy forces met at 1 a.m. but could not sign the final agreement, originally scheduled for later Saturday.
The agreement could be signed “in the scheduled time due to the lack of consensus on some outstanding issues,” said Youssef.
He did not explain the differences even as the two sides have failed to agree on the timeline to integrate the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the military.
“All parties will continue to engage in serious discussions to overcome the last obstacles to reach an agreement towards the path for civil democratic transition,” Youssef said.
They would meet again on Sunday to set a new date for signing the pact to usher in a civilian government in the country that has battled years of chaos after a military coup by General Abdel-Fattah Burhan.
On Mar.19, Youssef said the parties agreed to sign the constitution on Apr.6 before setting up a transition government on Apr.11.
However, all that is set to get delayed.
The final phase of the political process began on Jan.8 between the signatories of the “framework agreement” reached on Dec.5 between the military and civilians.
The framework wants to end the political crisis unleashed after the coup d’état in October 2021, when Burhan deposed the transitional civilian government that had led the country since the ouster of dictator Omar Al Bashir in 2019.
The final agreement, mediated by the UN, aims to hold elections at the end of 2023 to form a civil government. EFE
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