Major Breakthrough: Opposition-Military Agree Upon All Three Levels Of Government
15 May, 2019
KHARTOUM (Sudanow) - After marathon talks, the opposition grouping, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), and the Transitional Military Council (TMC) late Tuesday agreed upon the jurisdictions of all three levels of government: The state council (the presidency), the executive (the council of ministers) and the legislature (the parliament) during the interim period after which general elections will be held, said the FFC in an announcement early Wednesday Morning.
No specific details were given so far about the military’s representation in the state council, hitherto a contentious issue. At the beginning the TMC said the state council should be solely military. Then it agreed to share it with the civilians.
The two sides have also agreed that the opposition Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), that led the uprising against Bashir’s rule, would name a civilian council of ministers from “experienced, decent and qualified national personalities” to run the executive affairs of the country. The council of the ministers will have complete executive power, said FFC.
They also agreed upon the formation of a civilian national legislative assembly of 300 members, 200 of them to be named by the FFC and the other 100 to be named in consultation between the two sides (the TMC and the FFC) on the condition that these members may not have been part of Bashir’s defunct regime.
The two sides have agreed upon a compromise duration of three years for the interim period. Previously the military had fixed two years for the interim period, while the opposition FFC had said it should be four years, given the thorny issues surrounding the country.
The two sides have agreed that the first six months of the interim period will be devoted to “the dossier of stopping the war and the achievement of comprehensive and lasting peace in the Sudan.”
They have also agreed upon the formation of a fact-finding committee on the violence on 13 May in which a yet unidentified party opened fire killing 6 peaceful demonstrators and an army officer in the vicinity of the sit-in around the army general command. Reports say 200 persons were also wounded in the attack, 9 of them critically.
The army has denied any involvement in the attack, while eyewitnesses said they saw persons dressed in army uniform and the uniform of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces open fire at the demonstrators and the army personnel guarding them from above the nearby Blue Nile Bridge that connects Khartoum with its twin-City Khartoum North.
In this respect the two sides have also agreed upon the formation of a joint committee from the army and the FFC to maintain security around the sit in zone.
The talks will continue today (Wednesday) to reach agreement on the remaining issues, including (among others) each sides’ representation in the state council.
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