Parties in Sudan have reached a final agreement on the constitutional declaration of governance for the transitional period.
People celebrated the agreement reached on Saturday which was also welcomed at Arab, international and domestic levels.
Sudan has now entered a new era in its political history. It has shifted to civil governance after the 30-year-rule by ousted President Omar al-Bashir, seven months of popular protests and four months of negotiations between the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), which led the popular movement and the Transitional Military Council.
The technical committee held meetings in the capital, few hours after African Union mediator for Sudan Mohamed Hassan Lebatt announced reaching the agreement on the constitutional declaration.
The meetings were aimed at setting a timetable for the arrangements to sign the agreement between the military council and the FFC.
“The two sides fully agreed on a constitutional declaration outlining the division of power for a three-year transition to elections, Lebatt said in a press statement.
The two sides reached a preliminary agreement last month following pressure from the United States and its Arab allies, amid growing concerns the political crisis could ignite a civil war. That document provided for the establishment of a joint civilian-military sovereign council that would rule Sudan for a little over three years while elections are organized.
A military leader would head the 11-member council for the first 21 months, followed by a civilian leader for the next 18 months.
There would also be a Cabinet of technocrats chosen by the protesters, as well as a legislative council, the makeup of which would be decided within three months.
FCC spokesman Madani Abbas Madani said in a press conference on Saturday that the document signed is set to establish a parliamentary rule giving the executive branch and the prime ministry great authority.
“Achieving peace in the country is one of the priorities of the transitional period and opens the door to the establishment of a state of freedom and justice,” Madani stressed.
FFC legal affairs negotiator Ebtisam al-Sanhouri, for her part, said the constitutional declaration sets the stage for a parliamentary system with a civilian prime minister.
The premier will be nominated by the protest movement and confirmed by the new sovereign council, which will have a civilian majority, Sanhouri explained.
The declaration also envisages the appointment of a 300-member legislative assembly to serve during the transitional period, she said, adding that the protest movement will be allocated 201 of the 300 seats.
The pro-democracy movement would choose 67 percent of the legislative body, with the remainder chosen by political parties that were not part of Bashir’s government, Sanhouri noted.
