British newspaper: Are the Sudanese parties committed to signing the final agreement?

News Source /  British Independent Newspaper

Despite the Sudanese political factions setting the date for the formation of the new civilian government on April 11, and ending the state of political tension that has haunted the country for nearly a year and a half, the Sudanese views are still divided between supporters and opponents of the results of the political process.

What is the view of political observers on what has been reached regarding the resolution of the Sudanese crisis? Will the country move towards stability leading to general elections by the end of the transitional period?

An important step

Mohamed Khalifa Siddiq, a professor of political science at the International University of Africa in Khartoum, said, “What the Sudanese parties, both military and civilian, have reached, is an important positive step that has been awaited for a long time, confirming that there is a clear seriousness to reach the desired goal of forming a civilian government that ends the state of non-state, but we fear that the timing that has been set regarding the signing of the final political declaration, the constitution and the formation of the government will not be adhered to, on the grounds that it has become a feature that people are accustomed to from afar.

He said “An important step that must be worked on is to try to convince the forces of freedom and change (the Democratic Bloc) in any way to sign the expected political declaration, and to be part of the existing alliance until full stability and a suitable climate for the new government are achieved,”.

Saving the Partnership

Political affairs researcher Haj Hamad believes that what is happening now in the Sudanese arena to find a solution to the crisis that erupted due to the October 25 coup are attempts by the global system represented by the tripartite mechanism (the United Nations, the African Union, and the IGAD) and the Quartet mechanism, to save the partnership that existed between the military and civilians after the fall of the regime of former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

He said “The problem is that the two sides (military and civilian) are not convinced by this partnership, especially the military component, which believes that it has made significant concessions,”. But in general, the international community is not aware of the current reality, as it seeks to preserve its interests that it has achieved in the past by finding a partnership in a relative and advanced way.”

The researcher in political affairs pointed out that the Sudanese street constitutes a strong and independent current in its position, so the military could not stop its movement by confronting it, so there is no future for this political process, even if a government is formed to manage the remaining transitional period.

Final signature

The spokesman for the political process in Sudan, Khaled Omar Yusuf, announced the selection of a committee to draft the initial draft of the final agreement no later than March 27, noting that the committee will include nine representatives of the civilian forces, one representative of the armed forces and another of the Rapid Support Forces.

Without blackmail

At the same time, the head of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, stressed that the military institution will not retreat from the goal of reaching a civilian government, but without “blackmail.”

Sudanese television quoted Burhan as saying, “We are determined to move forward and we will not retreat from a civilian government, but this is not subject to blackmail or compromise.”