Sudanese people chant slogans and wave national flags as they celebrate in Khartoum [Ashraf Shazly/AFP]
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.Sudan's pro-democracy supporters march through the streets of the capital to celebrate a power-sharing deal reached with the ruling military council #SudanUprising pic.twitter.com/ek1r1z9QcM— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) July 5, 2019
Sudan's ruling generals and a coalition of protest and opposition groups have reached an agreement to share power during a transition period until elections, in a deal that could break weeks of political deadlock since the overthrowing of autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April.
Both sides agreed to establish a joint military-civilian sovereign council that will rule the country by rotation "for a period of three years or slightly more", Mohamed Hassan Lebatt, African Union (AU) mediator, said at a news conference on Friday.
Under the agreement, five seats would go to the military and five to civilians, with an additional seat given to a civilian agreed upon by both sides
The ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) and the civilian leaders also agreed to launch a "transparent and independent investigation" into the violence that began on June 3 when scores of pro-democracy demonstrators were killed in a brutal military crackdown on a protest camp in the capital, Khartoum.
TMC deputy head General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who is widely known as Hemeti, welcomed Friday's deal, which, he said, would be inclusive.
"We would like to reassure all political forces, armed movements and all those who participated in the change from young men and women … that this agreement will be comprehensive and will not exclude anyone," added Dagalo, who also heads the feared paramilitary unit Rapid Support Forces (RSF) accused by the demonstrators of crushing the sit-in outside the military headquarters.
'A first step'
Omar al-Degair, a leader of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), an umbrella organisation of opposition groups, said the agreement "opens the way for the formation of the institutions of the transitional authority, and we hope that this is the beginning of a new era".
In a statement on Friday morning, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which is part of the FFC, said the transition period would last three years and three months.
"Today, our revolution has won and our victory shines," the SPA said in the statement, which was posted on its Facebook page.
Mohamed al-Hacen Lebatt (left), AU envoy to Sudan, sits next to General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo as he shakes hands with an army general following a press conference in Khartoum [Ebrahim Hamid/ AFP]The military would lead the sovereign council for the first 21 months, and a civilian would take over for the remaining 18 months, it said. The FFC would appoint a cabinet of ministers, the SPA said, adding that a legislative council would be formed after the appointment of the sovereign council and the cabinet.
The two sides also agreed to set up a committee of lawyers, including jurists from the AU, to finalise the agreement within 48 hours.
Khaled Omar, a protest leader, told reporters in Khartoum later on Friday that the deal was only "a first step".
"Power transfer to a civilian transitional authority ... means that the revolution has put its feet [on track] to achieve its principal goals," Omar said. He added that the FFC does not seek revenge but wants "to achieve a comprehensive national reconciliation".
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Source: Al Jazeera
