Sudan’s ruling military council announced Friday that it has accepted a joint proposal from the African Union and Ethiopia to work toward a transitional government.
Spokesman Lt. Gen. Shams Eddin Kabbashi said the council is ready to resume "immediate, serious and honest" negotiations to end the political stalemate with the protesters based on the joint proposal.
Protest leaders, represented by the coalition Forces for Declaration of Freedom and Change, said Thursday the proposal was based on a previous initiative from Ethiopia for a power-sharing agreement.
In recent weeks, Ethiopia and the AU have been mediating between the military council and the pro-democracy movement demanding civilian rule.
Talks collapsed when Sudanese security forces cleared a protest camp in the capital, Khartoum, earlier this month.
The new proposal drafted by the two calls for a civilian-majority ruling council as demanded by protesters, but it fails to mention the make-up of a new transitional parliament.
"Although the transitional military council has some observations, the joint proposal from the AU and Ethiopia can be a base for starting negotiations to form an interim authority," Kabbashi remarked.
The generals seized power after the army ousted longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir on April 11 following months of nationwide protests against his iron-fisted rule of three decades.
But since then the generals have resisted calls from demonstrators and Western nations to hand power to a civilian administration.
The joint proposal entails creating a 15-member, civilian-majority governing body for a three-year transitional period. But it makes no mention of the composition of a legislative body.
