Sudanese military leaders and pro-democracy forces have decided to delay the signing of a final political agreement due to a lack of consensus on some outstanding issues, reported Reuters.
According to Khaled Omar Youssef, the spokesperson for the political process said in a statement that the postponement of the signing of the agreement, which was initially planned on Saturday, comes as key security reform negotiations between the Sudanese army and the country’s powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces appear to have reached a deadlock.
As per the statement, a meeting will be held Sunday to set a new date for signing the final political agreement.
The signing of the agreement follows a framework deal agreed upon between the military and the civilian Forces for Freedom and Change [FFC] alliance in December last year.
Notably, integrating the RSF and placing the military under civilian authority are the main demands of civilian groups that helped oust long-time ruler Omar al Bashir four years ago and shared power with the military until an October 2021 coup.
The military coup, led by army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and the commander of a powerful paramilitary, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government and derailed a short-lived democratic transition. Sudan has been without a functioning government since then.
Last week, Sudanese military leader Abdel Fattah al Burhan appealed to the troops to cease support for authoritarian leaders as talks begin on military reforms paving the way towards the transition to civilian rule. He said the country will build a military force that will not intervene in politics and will be trusted by the Sudanese people in building a modern and democratic state.
The Sudanese military and civilian political leaders are expected to adopt the agreement on April 6 and launch a new civilian-led government in Sudan on April 11.
