Khartoum — The National Accord Forces (NAF), and the Sudan People's Call initiative signed a political declaration on Saturday, which is an amendment of the 2019 Constitutional Declaration, for a transitional period of 24 months.
The document stipulated that three bodies which will act together during the transitional period: A sovereign authority, a transitional cabinet, and a legislative council. The declaration also proposed a Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, including involving coup leaders in the formation of a new cabinet. It stipulates that transitional authority structures will agree, by consensus, the duties of a sovereign president.
The political declaration rejeced a proposal by the Sudan Bar Association for a new transitional constitution. It said that such a process would create complications that cannot be solved under the current state of fragmentation in the country.
The role of the Juba Peace Agreement in completing the peace process in Sudan was empahsised in the document.
The charter was signed by Minni Minawi, head of the NAF Liaison Committee, Jafar El Mirghani, Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and Mohammed Wada, member of the Sudanese Ba'ath Party.
Minni Minnawi said "for the past sixty years, the military has been part of the government," after renewing his call to hold a Sudanese to Sudanese dialogue to discuss the root causes of the Sudanese crisis since independence.
El Mirghani stressed the need to end the constitutional vacuum in Sudan and urged the political forces to take concrete steps towards a solution, involving all the forces.
NAF background
The NAF, formerly the National Accord breakaway faction of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC-NA), announced their political vision on August 23. In the document, it was proposed that the role of the military in the government should be limited to security and defense councils, chaired by a civilian head of state or the prime minister. The NAF is dominated by rebel groups that signed the Juba Peace Agreement and support the coup d'état of October 25 last year. The DUP is an ally.
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After announcing their political vision, the NAF met the tripartite committee of the Sudanese military, headed by Gen Mohamed 'Hemeti' Dagalo, on August 25 to discuss the military junta holding consultations with civilian political actors. Hemeti said last month that that he is committed to his previous pledge to remove the military institution from the political scene, contrary to claims made by Jibril Ibrahim, Minister of Finance and head of the Justice and Equality Movement.
The Sudan People's Call initiative, backed by coup-leader and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) commander Abdelfattah El Burhan, was launched in July by renowned Sufi leader El Tayeb El Jad with the aim of ending the country's political crisis.
Other ideas
The constitutional declaration comes in opposition to the mainstream Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC) vision for political transition in Sudan, along with visions from various other groups.
On October 5, Sudan's Resistance Committees and Coordination Committees activated a separate document, the Revolutionary Charter for the Establishment of the People's Authority.
The Technical Committee of the Charter explained in a press statement that the goals and issues raised by the resistance committees will be the basic building blocks for the formation of a unified body that will include all the revolutionary forces.
