Sudan to seal transitional agreement to civilian power

The ruling military and the leaders of the protest in Sudan are preparing to seal, Saturday, August 17, a historic agreement paving the way for a transfer of power to civilians, whose people hope that it will bring him freedom and prosperity. A ceremony will be held Saturday afternoon in Khartoum on the banks of the Nile for the signing of documents that define the 39 months of transition to come.

If the road to democracy is likely to be long, however, the mood is at the celebration in the capital where foreign dignitaries and thousands of Sudanese flocked on Friday for the occasion. The agreement reached in early August ended nearly eight months of a new protest movement that led to the fall of President Omar al-Bashir, who remained in power for thirty years, before turning against the military council's generals. transition that has taken over.

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Concluded through a mediation by Ethiopia and the African Union, this agreement was greeted with relief from both sides, demonstrators celebrating the victory of their "revolution" and generals claiming credit for their to have avoided a civil war.

"Civil power"

In Atbara, a city in the center of the country where the first rallies against the government's decision to triple the price of bread took place on December 19, some danced and sang on the station platforms before leaving for Khartoum, according to images. posted on social networks. "Civil power," he chanted, promising to avenge those who died in the suppression of demonstrations.

The first stages of the transition should follow the signing with the announcement Sunday of the composition of the majority sovereign Council made up of civilians who must lead the transition. On Thursday, the Alliance for Freedom and Change (ALC), the spearhead of the protest, appointed Abdallah Hamdok, a former UN economist, to become prime minister. The Sovereign Council must announce Tuesday if he confirms it to this post.

Elections scheduled for 2022

Abdallah Hamdok will then have the difficult task of raising the economy of the country that collapsed after the secession of the South in 2011 deprived it of three quarters of its oil reserves. Inflation and shortages have been drivers of the dispute. Elections are planned for 2022, but many Sudanese already doubt the ability of transitional institutions to limit the power of the military elite.

If they are a minority in the 11 members of the Sovereign Council, which will govern 40 million Sudanese, it will be headed by a general for 21 months. And the ministers of the interior and the defense will be chosen by the military. "Political dynamics will be more important than scraps of paper," says Rosalind Marsden of London-based Chatham House think tank.

"The biggest challenge for the government will be the dismantling of Islamist (informal) entities that have taken control of all state institutions and key sectors of the economy," she adds. The Ethiopian Prime Minister will participate in the ceremony alongside leaders from other countries in the region.

250 dead during the demonstrations

One of the first consequences of the diplomatic deal should be the lifting of the June suspension of Sudan from the African Union. General Mohammed Ali Ibrahim, a member of the Transitional Military Council, said Friday that the signing would "reopen the door to Sudan's international relations".

The day of the signing also had to be that of the opening of the trial of the ex-president charged with corruption, but it was postponed indefinitely. In the protest movement, some argue that the agreement is not enough to thwart the power of the military and ensure that justice is also done for the 250 or so people who died during the protests according to a committee of doctors close to the protesters .

The major absentees from the signing ceremony will be the rebel groups from the marginalized areas of Darfur, Blue Nile and Kordofan. The Sudanese Revolutionary Front, which unites these groups, supported the protest but rejected the constitutional declaration of the agreement, demanding to participate in the government and more guarantees regarding the peace process concerning them.

With AFP