Protests as Sudan military, parties sign initial transition deal

Sudan’s military and political parties have signed a framework deal that provides for a two-year, civilian-led transition towards elections and would end a standoff triggered by a coup in October 2021.

However, key dissenters, including anti-military protest groups and factions loyal to former leader Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown in 2019, oppose it.

The initial agreement signed on Monday would limit the military’s formal role to a security and defence council headed by a prime minister, but leaves sensitive issues including transitional justice and security sector reform for further talks.

The deal also stipulates that the military will form part of a new “security and defence council” under the appointed prime minister. The agreement also vows to unify Sudan’s armed forces and impose controls on military-owned companies.

It is the first of at least two planned accords and was signed by Sudan’s two ruling generals, Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, and the leaders from the country’s largest pro-democracy group, Forces of Freedom and Change, at the Republican Palace.

In response to the signing, the pro-democracy Resistance Committee leaders called for demonstrations against the agreement.

They believe that transitional justice and security sector reform must be included in any deal from the start.

Protests broke out in at least two areas of the capital Khartoum before the signing ceremony at the presidential palace.

The military has not appointed a new prime minister since last year’s coup, which halted a power-sharing arrangement between the military and the FFC.

The coup led to more than a year of mass protests against the military and the suspension of billions of dollars in international financial assistance, deepening an economic crisis.