Sudan’s Parties to Resume Talks on Constitutional Declaration

FFC delegates at the meeting with the TMC on the political and constitutional documents on 16 July 2019 (AFP Photo)

July 30, 2019 (KHARTOUM) - Talks on the constitutional declaration for the transitional period are expected to resume on Thursday after the return of the negotiating delegation of the Forces for Freedom and Change from El-Obeid where five protesters were killed by the security forces.

The discussions had to resume on Tuesday but the killing of protesters forced the opposition coalition to halt the political process to mark its condemnation for the excessive use of force and called to hold the perpetrators accountable.

However, Sudan Tribune learnt that the technical teams continued their works on the sticking points on Tuesday and finalizing the final draft of the declaration ahead of the resumption negotiations on Thursday according to several sources as few said they can join the negotiating table even on Wednesday evening.

For its part, the joint mediation did not issue any statement to clarify the situation following the recent developments.

However, opposition sources denied rumours about the suspension of the negotiations because of the events of El Obeid, confirming reports that the National Consensus Forces made that proposal, but it was rejected by the other FFC components.

"The majority agreed on the need to accelerate the completion of negotiations and the formation of the government to fill gaps that open the door to the situation of military expansion and chaos," according to a leading opposition member who declined to be identified.

The opposition groups seem more inclined to believe that elements from the former regime in the army and the Rapid Support Forces are behind the attacks on protesters to hinder the political process and create chaos in the country.

However, they criticize the ruling military council for its intertie and call to purge the army and other security services from the military institutions.

Further, the junta until now did not ban the political activities of al-Bashir’s National Congress Party which even released a statement on Tuesday accusing the military council responsible for this long constitutional vacuum in the country and the security chaos.

In a related development, a delegation from the Transitional Military Council headed by the Vice-Chairman of the Political Committee, Lt-Gen Jamal Omer, travelled to El-Obeid to assess the situation there after the brutal repression of protesters and to studies the measures taken by the North Kordofan state military governor.

(ST)