Sudan’s ruling generals, main pro-democracy group ink framework deal until elections

Sudan’s ruling generals and the main pro-democracy group have inked a framework deal until elections but key dissenters have stayed out of the agreement.

The deal, the first of at least two planned accords, that was signed this Monday, pledges to establish a new, civilian-led transitional government to guide the country to elections and offers a path forward in the wake of Sudan’s stalled transition to democracy following the October 2021 coup.

The framework agreement was signed by Sudan’s two ruling generals, Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, and the leaders from the country’s largest pro-democracy group, Forces of Freedom and Change. However, several of Sudan’s key dissenting political forces have boycotted the deal, including Sudan’s grassroots pro-democracy network, known as the Resistance Committee, which has continually refused to negotiate with the ruling generals.

The deal envisions Sudan’s military step back from politics and stipulates that the “revolutionary forces” that signed the deal will decide upon a new prime minister to oversee a two-year transition, a 24-month period that begins after a premier is appointed.

In response to the signing, the pro-democracy Resistance Committee leaders called for demonstrations against the agreement. The document makes specific mention of Sudan’s wealthy paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces, headed by Dagalo, which amassed wealth through its gradual acquisition of Sudanese financial institutions and gold reserves in recent years.

Sudan has been plugged into turmoil since the October 2021 coup that upended the country’s former democratic transition after three decades of autocratic rule by Omar al-Bashir. The former leader was toppled in April 2019 following a popular uprising.