Sudan finds grounds of agreement

_{- Aishwarya Dakhore}

After being a dictatorship for almost 30 years and massive protests and ruthless state repression for the last 6 months, Sudan has finally found some footing for peace as a power-sharing deal gets finalised between the organisation leading the uprising, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) and the Sudanese military.

The deal, finalised on Friday morning, implies that the power will be shared by a joint civilian-military governing body aimed at ending the country's deep-rooted political crisis. 

The deal agreement took place with the mediation of the African Union, concluding the formation of a new joint Sovereign Council.

This council will comprise of five military and five civilian members, along with an additional eleventh common member who will be a retired military official. Under the agreement, the council will first be led by the military officials for a span of 21 months, and then would be handed over to the civilians for the next 18 months until Sudan holds elections. The agreement, however, has not been signed yet and is expected to be finalised from both sides by Monday.

Sudan's Army ruler, General Fattah al-Burhan, vowed on Saturday to implement the power-sharing deal. "We as the military council, promise to protect what has been agreed upon and ensure that it is implemented," he told the broadcast media. He also assured that the military will work sincerely with the Alliance for Freedom and Change and other such forces working closely for the civilians in the country.

Burhan's remarks came after the Alliance for Freedom and Change cancelled the nationwide mass protest which was to be held on July 13 and changed it into a 'commemoration' event for the protesters killed during the uprising. Followed by these peace talks, the military council, on Sunday, also took a step forward and released 235 prisoners who are fighters from the Sudan Liberation Army.

Protest leader Khalid Omar said "The earlier aim of the mass protest was to achieve civilian rule through mobilising people on the streets against the generals. But now we can assume that civilian rule can be established through the agreement," thus exhibiting an optimistic approach towards the crisis.

The ‘Sudanese Revolution’, as it has been come to be known, demanded the ousting of the country's long-ruling President, Al-Bashir. It caught the global attention in just the recent past and has caused about 136 civilian casualties, 100 of which were caused on June 3 by heavily armed paramilitary forces. As a part of the repercussions of this brutality, Sudan faced suspension of membership from the African Union. An independent investigation into the killings was also announced after the protests got on a high flair. 

This agreement, although being a positive development, had no mention of resuming the stunted internet services or removing the Rapid Support Forces (RSP) who are allegedly responsible for most abuses caused during the protests. The role of women in the whole council formation process was also very feeble even when the protests were vitally led by women. 

While this settlement surely has a brighter side to it, the Human Rights Watch's EU director, Lotte Leicht, said that Sudan's armed forces have ‘a history of broken promises, atrocities and impunity,’ thus highlighting the possible negative predictions of the situation. This outcome of Sudan protests, however, is being looked at worldwide as an effective step towards a successful and positive revolution in Sudan.

Aishwarya Dakhore is an intern with Indie Journal.