Sudanese opposition, military agree preliminary deal to end crisis

Khartoum, Nov 16 (EFE).- Sudan’s main civilian opposition group and the country’s military announced a preliminary agreement on Wednesday to resolve the crisis triggered by the coup d’etat over a year ago.

“We reached a framework agreement with the military to end the political crisis in the country,” one of the leaders of the Forces for Freedom and Change, Taha Ozman, told a press conference, adding that power in Sudan would return to a civilian authority.

In October 2021, the Sudanese military overthrew the previous civilian government which had emerged after the fall of former dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019, essentially freezing the African country’s transition to democracy.

“The military establishment accepted that the council of ministers should consist only of civilians and that the prime minister should be the head of the security and defense councils,” Ozman said.

He added that the “political process” to end the current impasse would first require signing the framework agreement and that “all” the parties involved then sit down to review four key issues, including transitional justice and military reform.

However, another leader of the opposition alliance, Yasser Omar, specified in the press conference that before signing the pact they will consult with “all the forces of the revolution”, whose approval will be decisive to go ahead with the process.

The Forces for Freedom and Change led the so-called “Sudanese revolution” which three years ago led to the fall of Al-Bashir, and were the main civilian decision-making body for the formation of the interim authorities at the start of the transition.

Since the coup d’état of 2021, more than 100 civilians have died in protests to demand the formation of a fully civilian government and condemn the military’s exceptional measures, such as the declaration of a state of emergency and the dissolution of the Council of Ministers. EFE

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