Military and civilian leaders in Sudan on Monday signed a first agreement aimed at ending the deep political crisis in the country since the putsch just over a year ago, as protesters cried ‘treason’ .
The deal, hailed by Washington and its allies, comes after multiple attempts to break the deadlock since army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhane took power and ousted civilian leaders.
General Burhane’s coup on October 25, 2021 derailed a difficult transition to civilian rule installed after the 2019 ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the impoverished country for nearly three decades. from North East Africa.
Since then, almost weekly demonstrations against the putsch have taken place in this country hit by an economic crisis and a rise in inter-ethnic violence.
The framework agreement was signed by General Burhane, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo as well as several civilian groups, including the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) which were ousted in the coup.
This initiative was immediately denounced by hundreds of Sudanese who gathered in Khartoum: “The agreement is a betrayal” and the FFC “sold our blood”, shouted the demonstrators.
“We reject this agreement because it ignored street demands for justice for those killed since the coup,” said protester in Khartoum, Mohamed Ali.
The document was negotiated in the presence of officials from the United Nations, Western diplomats as well as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to the FFC.
The signing took place in the presence of the UN special representative, Volker Perthes, and that of the African Union, Mohamed Belaish.
“Today’s ceremony is the culmination of sustained efforts by Sudanese stakeholders over the past year to find a solution to the political crisis and restore constitutional order,” said Volker Perthes.
The United States, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia “welcomed” the agreement as “an essential first step towards the establishment of a government led by civilians and the definition of constitutional provisions to guide Sudan through a period of transition culminating in elections”.
“Transitional Civil Authority”
General Burhane promised several months ago a withdrawal of the army from power to allow political groups to form a civilian government, while anti-coup demonstrations have left 121 people dead for a year.
During the ceremony, General Daglo reiterated the army’s commitment to leave the political scene, declaring that it was “essential to build a sustainable democratic regime”.
The agreement was announced following a Friday meeting between the Forces for Freedom and Change and other political groups with senior military officials, attended by officials from the African Union, UN , IGAD, as well as Western diplomats. It is the first step in a two-phase political process.
As a first step, “the framework agreement lays the foundations for the establishment of a civilian transitional authority”, the FFC said, noting that other civilian groups had also signed it.
The second phase includes a final agreement dealing with issues such as transitional justice and army reforms, which should be completed “within weeks”, according to a statement from the FFC.
However, this part is much thornier, with observers wondering whether the military would be willing to give up wider economic interests and powers it considers its favored domain.
The first phase of the deal “is a very low-level commitment by Burhane that allows him to survive” politically, said Khartoum-based think tank analyst Kholood Khair.
But the signatories are likely to face “a real political crisis as they start talking seriously about security sector reforms, transitional justice (and) fiscal accountability”, she added.