Sudan is likely to see a new civilian government formed under a deal that the country’s warring factions have just hammered out after years of deadlock in perennial negotiation back and forth between the military and civilian political parties,
The agreement, which Sudan’s political parties have reached, envisages the formation of a new civilian government on April 11, Khalid Omar Yousif, the spokesperson for the signatories to the political settlement, said on Sunday.
The parties have seen eye to eye on the establishment of a committee that will include nine members of civilian groups, one from the army and another from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, according to Yousif. The committee will be tasked with drafting a new constitution.
The signing of the transitional framework for the deal is scheduled for early next month. A constitutional declaration is expected to be signed on April 6.
The African country entered into a chapter of disquiet in April 2019 when a popular uprising ousted Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government who had ruled the country for 30 years. But the years that followed have seen a number of transition attempts all of which have failed to restore balance in the country. In October 2021, Sudan’s military led by the country’s top General Abdel-Fattah Burhan rolled out a coup and disposed of the government, upending the short-lived transition to democracy.
The highly-anticipated formation of a new transitional government has been brokered by Western, Gulf, and UN mediators, in a bid to revive flows of urgently needed economic assistance to Sudan.
Still, opposition to the deal prevails among major political players, from former rebel leaders to grassroots pro-democracy networks despite internationally brokered efforts to draw them in.
