New Sudanese Government to be Formed in April

Taha Osman

March 16, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The new Sudanese government will be formed in April said the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) in a press conference held on Thursday in Khartoum.

The civilian and military signatories of the Political Framework Agreement, on Wednesday, held a meeting to discuss the slow-moving political process to restore a civilian-led transition in Sudan and took a number of decisions.

Several leaders of the coalition of the December revolution’s forces held a press conference to brief Sudanese about the steps agreed upon in this meeting which was attended by the facilitators of the Trilateral Mechanism and the EU and Quad ambassadors who support the process.

“A final agreement will be signed and the structures of the transitional authority will be formed during the holy month of Ramadan,” Taha Osman, a member of the FFC negotiating team told the reporters in the press conference.

Ramadan will begin on March 23.

Osman further added that the timetable for the next steps will be announced once it is agreed upon in a meeting to be held next Sunday.

In line with the framework agreement of the 5th December 2022, the parties to the political process held three of five conferences to discuss issues that require a national consensus. For the two others, one related to justice and transitional justice is taking place currently while the last which deals with security reforms will be the last to discuss.

The FFC negotiator stressed that the drafting committees of the final agreement and the structure of the transition will begin their meeting at the Republican Palace very soon.

He stressed that the drafting of the transitional constitution will be based on the outcome of the five conferences on sticky issues, the political declaration of December 5, and the Juba peace Agreement.

There are two signatories of the Juba peace agreement that refuse to join the ongoing political process as they reject the framework agreement and call to maintain the 2019 constitutional declaration.

The FFC speakers avoided speaking about the holdout groups but Osman said they will not further delay the process.

He added they would stand idle by, awaiting the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement to change their mind.

Minni Minnawi, the political secretary of the Democratic Bloc, which rejects the framework agreement, said the ongoing process disregards voices calling to amend it.

“This truncated process will not lead to stability no matter how much it claims otherwise,” he further stressed.

(ST)