With a wide regional and international presence

Signing the framework political agreement to end the crisis in Sudan

Al-Burhan (centre) and Dagalo (second from left) hold up the documents alongside the civilian leaders after signing the agreement.

A.F.B

Yesterday, the Sudanese parties signed the framework political agreement to end the political crisis in the country, amid a broad regional and international presence that included the tripartite mechanism, ambassadors and representatives of diplomatic bodies.

The agreement was signed by the head of the Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo, and many civilian leaders, especially from the Forces for Freedom and Change, which is the main civilian faction.

The signing ceremony took place at the Republican Palace in the center of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Al-Burhan chanted "the military to the barracks" during his speech during the signing ceremony, and the protesters used this chant to demand the army's exit from the political scene after the October 2021 measures.

The agreement includes 27 items, the most prominent of which is the handover of the transitional authority to a full civil authority consisting of three levels without the participation of the regular forces, which were granted representation in the Security and Defense Council headed by the civilian prime minister.

It also stipulated the distancing of the army from politics and the practice of economic, commercial and investment activities, and the integration of the Rapid Support Forces and the Armed Movement Forces into the army according to arrangements to be agreed upon later in the Merger and Demobilization Commission within a security and military reform plan leading to a single professional and national army;

In addition to reforming the police and intelligence services and placing them under the presidency of the Prime Minister, and limiting the tasks of the intelligence service to collecting information, analyzing it, presenting it to the competent authorities, and stripping it of the power to arrest or detain.

Among the terms of the agreement is the reform of the judicial apparatus in a way that achieves its independence and integrity, and the launch of a comprehensive process that achieves justice and transition, ensuring that there is no impunity, and the recovery of looted funds and assets.

The agreement provides for the implementation of the Juba peace agreement with its evaluation and evaluation between the executive authority, the agreement partners and the parties to the political declaration, and the completion of peace with the non-signatory armed movements.

The agreement confirmed the launch of a comprehensive process for drafting the constitution, and the organization of a comprehensive electoral process at the end of a transitional period of 24 months.

The agreement is the first part of a two-stage political process based on the draft constitution recently prepared by the Sudanese Bar Association, according to a statement by the Forces for Freedom and Change.

As for the second part of the agreement, which includes several issues, including transitional justice and army reform, it is expected to be completed “within weeks,” according to the statement.

The groups that signed and supported the agreement hope that it will lead to a solution to the current crisis.

The agreement comes a few months after Al-Burhan announced that the army would move away from politics and leave room for an agreement on a civilian government.

The Forces for Freedom and Change, a major civilian faction, said the framework agreement paves the way for the formation of a transitional civilian authority.

He announced that the agreement had been reached, on Friday, after a meeting that included the Forces for Freedom and Change and other political factions with military leaders, in the presence of officials from the African Union, the United Nations and the IGAD group, in addition to Western diplomats.

The representative of the United Nations called on the Sudanese forces to start "immediately" in the talks on the second part in order to reach a comprehensive agreement.

Some former rebel leaders who signed an agreement with the army in 2020 and supported it last year also objected to the agreement.

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