On Monday, a number of civil forces and the Sudanese Sovereignty Council signed a framework political agreement establishing a 24-month transitional period, after more than a year of protests in the country.

The head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, said in an interview with "Al-Jazeera" that the framework agreement is open to all, and that anyone who wants to join it can do so, pledging to address the mistakes of the previous regime regarding the military establishment.

Al-Burhan denied the existence of dictates from outside, and stressed that no one can be allowed to impose such dictates.

For his part, the Vice-President of the Sovereignty Council in Sudan, Muhammad Hamdan Hamidti, said that what happened on October 25 was a political mistake and opened the door to more divisions. He also stressed the importance of the framework agreement to move Sudan towards democracy, he said.


Agreement text

The agreement stipulates that the transitional period begins from the date of the appointment of a prime minister, and ends with the holding of comprehensive elections.

As for the transitional authority, it includes the Legislative Council, the sovereign level, and the Council of Ministers, and it is entirely civil.

The agreement also provided for the integration of the Rapid Support Forces into the armed forces, and the criminalization of military coups and any political change outside the constitutional frameworks.

Other Sudanese civil forces rejected the agreement, stressing that it led to internal divisions and did not gain the agreement of the rest of the political forces.

The representative of the civil forces participating in the signing, Al-Wathiq Al-Barir, said that the agreement aims to unite the Sudanese under the banner of the project to establish a civil authority, in order to complete the democratic transition and achieve the goals of the revolution.

Areas in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, witnessed protests called for by what are known as the resistance committees, in rejection of the political agreement signed between civil forces and the Sovereignty Council.


International welcome

For his part, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, welcomed the signing of the political framework agreement, and expressed his hope that the agreement would lead to a return to civilian leadership in the country.

The UN representative in Sudan, Volker Peretz, said that the signing of the political framework agreement between civil forces and the Sovereignty Council was the result of the efforts of the Sudanese parties to find a solution to the crisis and restore constitutional order.

Volcker called on the international community to continue to support the political process in Sudan.

In turn, the US State Department welcomed the signing of the framework agreement in Sudan, and considered it a step towards forming a transitional government with civilian leadership.

A statement by the ministry confirmed that the United States and its partners consider efforts to form a civilian-led government in Sudan a key factor for the resumption of international aid.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also welcomed the signing of the political framework agreement in Sudan, and praised the actors who signed it.

Borrell explained that the European Union has been a strong supporter of the joint tripartite mechanism between the United Nations Transition Support Mission in Sudan, the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.

He congratulated the bodies for the facilities they provided to allow the formation and realization of a political process among the Sudanese.

He added that it is now important to maintain the momentum of the process to redouble efforts to form an inclusive civilian transitional government that can hold free, fair and credible elections.