Sudan civil forces agree on principles of 'transitional period'

Sudan’s Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), the country’s main civilian bloc, announced a consensus among political, civil and societal forces on four crucial axes for a transitional period, after a year of military rule.

The group, which was ousted from power in a 2021 coup, made the announcement during a press conference in the capital, Khartoum.

"These forces agreed to sit down, put a number of papers for discussion, and everyone reached four main axes: the draft political declaration, the constitutional declaration for the transitional period, the criteria for choosing the prime minister of the civilian government, and the tasks of the transitional government," the head of the Political Communication Authority of the National Accord group, Mona Arko Minawi, said.

"Today's session (Sunday) discussed the initial leave of the constitutional declaration, and tomorrow (Monday) the final leave will take place with the participation of large political, civil and societal forces," Minawi added.

Hundreds of Sudanese rallied on Sunday in support of a political initiative backed by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan who led last year's military coup. The rallies took place outside a Khartoum conference hall where meetings have been held since Saturday by a recently-established initiative aimed at ending Sudan's political crisis.

The initiative, known as "The Call of Sudan's People", was launched last month by renowned Sufi religious leader Al-Tayeb Al-Jed.

Late last month, Burhan - who led the October coup that derailed Sudan's transition to civilian rule - welcomed the initiative. He said the armed forces will not take sides in Sudan's political system, but instead stand with the people's desire for an elected civilian government despite the earlier coup. Many activists have been sceptical of this position given the army's role in politics.

"The armed forces will not take sides, only they are with the people's desire, bearing in mind the achievement of the goals of the December revolution," the commander-in-chief of the Sudanese army said.

"The armed forces are with the people's demands put forward in an elected civilian government... and will devote themselves to fulfilling their duty to protect the country and guard its national gains from every aggressor and stalker," he continued.

Burhan called on political forces to assume their national responsibilities, warning that Sudan can't tolerate further political fragmentation and polarisation.

"The transitional period is surrounded by many challenges, time is slipping from our hands, and our people are long overdue," he added, stressing that effective solutions will not come without consensus or free elections.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Federal Government in the Sudanese government, Buthaina Ibrahim Dinar, announced on Sunday her official resignation in protest against the continuation of the military coup as well as the failure to implement the peace agreement.

Dinar entered the government lineup last year among six ministers appointed under a peace agreement between the government and opposition groups. The minister, who belongs to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, said "we must complete the revolution, achieve its slogans, and rally all around its banner until we fulfill the national duty with the end of the coup".

"The return of civil rule, the right to democratic practice, and citizenship without discrimination is the basis for rights and duties," she wrote in a Facebook post announcing her resignation.

Sudan has been reeling from political unrest, a spiralling economic crisis, and a spike in ethnic clashes in its far-flung regions.

The military power grab upended a transition to civilian rule launched after the 2019 ouster of dictator Omar al-Bashir, who ruled for three decades. The country has since been rocked by near-weekly protests and violent crackdowns that have so far killed at least 116 people, according to pro-democracy medics.

A conference held by the initiative on Saturday was attended by diplomats from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the African Union.