Generals from Sudan and pro-democracy group sign framework agreement

A framework agreement until elections was reached on Monday by the major pro-democracy organization and the governing generals in Sudan, but important dissenters refused to sign.

The agreement provides a way forward in the aftermath of Sudan’s delayed transition to democracy following the October 2021 coup by promising to build a new, civilian-led transitional administration to lead the nation into elections.

The first of at least two planned agreements were signed at the Khartoum Republican Palace by Sudan’s two ruling generals, Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, and the heads of the largest pro-democracy organization in the nation, Forces of Freedom and Change.

The Resistance Committee, Sudan’s grassroots pro-democracy network that has repeatedly refused to talk with the governing generals, and other significant opposing political parties, however, have boycotted the agreement.

The agreement calls for Sudan’s military to withdraw from politics, according to the text. The pact also states that a new prime minister will be chosen by the “revolutionary forces” who signed it to lead a two-year transition, which will begin 24 months after a premier is chosen.

The pro-democracy Resistance Committee leaders urged protests against the accord following the signing.

The agreement is based largely on a transitional constitution proposal that the Sudanese Bar Association put up in September. The execution of military reforms and the establishment of a transitional court system are topics left for a follow-up agreement, hence they are not covered in depth in this agreement.

Volker Tuerk, the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner, speaks during a news conference in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, on November 16, 2022, to mark the end of his tour.

Since its top military official, Gen. Burhan, led the October 2021 coup that overturned the nation’s previous democratic transition following three decades of Omar al-dictatorial Bashir’s leadership, Sudan has been plunged into instability. After a public revolt in April 2019, the old ruler was overthrown.