Sudan’s TMC, Opposition Groups Ink Political Accord

Addis Ababa July 17/2019 Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) and Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) have signed a political accord creating a transitional power-sharing body, after weeks of negotiations.

The signing of the document on Wednesday by TMC and the FFC alliance came after a series of delays due to disagreements over the details of an agreement reached earlier this month to establish a joint military-civilian sovereign council that will rule the country by rotation.

The two sides are still working on a much more contentious constitutional declaration, which is expected to be signed on Friday, it was reported.

The political agreement specifies that there will be five members from each side in the sovereign council, which effectively will be the presidency of the country.

Moreover, there will be members nominated by the FFC to the executive council, which will be considered the ministers.

The TMC and the opposition coalition have been wrangling for weeks over what form Sudan's transitional government should take after the military deposed President Omar al-Bashir on April 11 after months of mass protests against his 30-year rule.

Direct talks were later revived after mediation efforts by the African Union and Ethiopia.

"The signing of the document is a huge achievement representing a very decisive step towards an all-inclusive agreement amongst all the forces in Sudan," Mohammed El Hassan Labat, African Union special envoy, said on Wednesday at a press conference in the capital, Khartoum.