Sudan factions delay post-coup deal on civilian rule
The signing of a political agreement to appoint a Sudanese civilian government has been delayed until April 6, an official says.
Sudanese leaders have postponed the signing of an agreement scheduled for Saturday to resume a short-lived democratic transition, an official said, amid ongoing disagreement between military factions.
Negotiation process spokesman Khalid Omar Yousif said on Twitter on Saturday that military and civilian parties unanimously agreed to “redouble efforts to overcome the remaining obstacle within a few days and pave the way for the signing of the final political agreed on April 6”. .
The signing of the accord was delayed due to a lack of “consensus on some outstanding issues,” Yousif said earlier in the day.
An October 2021 coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had derailed the process that began after the removal of General Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
Representatives spent weeks negotiating a deal, the latest part of a two-stage political process that began in December to set the conditions for reviving the transition to citizen-led government and democratic elections.
Reform of the security forces is a major bone of contention in the talks, which foresee the departure of generals from politics once a civilian government is in place.
The December deal, labeled “vague” by critics, was negotiated with multiple factions by Burhan following nearly weekly protests since the 2021 coup.
The proposed reforms include the integration into the regular army of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Burhan’s deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
Established in 2013, the RSF evolved from the Popular Defense Forces, also known as “Janjaweed”, which al-Bashir unleashed a decade earlier in the western region of Darfur against non-Arab rebels. The militia has since been accused by human rights groups of committing war crimes.
While experts have pointed to worrying rivalry between Burhan and Daglo, the two men appeared side by side last week and spoke in the capital Khartoum to advocate for successful integration.
But talks have since stalled, according to observers, with ongoing disputes over a timetable for RSF integration.
Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, said: “The military wants the group to be integrated into it by the end of the two-year transition period.
“They also want an assessment of the officers and officer ranks of the RSF and say this needs to be reassessed because they did not join the military academy and were promoted in standards that were not compatible with the standards of the military .
“When it comes to the question of integrating the RSF, which has repeatedly said it is part of the military, it boils down to the military and the RSF between themselves. A technical committee will try to reach an agreement within the next five days, so that a final deal is signed on April 6,” said Morgan.