Sudan army and protesters agree on 3-year transitional period

Sudan‘s military leaders who seized power last month by overthrowing longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir have agreed with opposition groups to a three-year transition period, as the country slowly moves closer to civilian rule.

“We agreed on a transitional period of three years,” Lieutenant General Yasser al-Atta, a member of the military council told reporters in the early hours of Wednesday.

Atta said a final agreement on the sharing of power, including the forming of the next ruling body – the sovereign council – will be signed with the protest movement, the Alliance for Freedom and Change, within 24 hours.

“We vow to our people that the agreement will be completed fully within 24 hours in a way that it meets the people’s aspirations,” Atta said.

The first six months of the transitional period will be allocated to signing peace accords with rebels in the country’s warzones, he added.

Thousands of protesters have been holding a sit-in outside the army headquarters in the capital, Khartoum, for weeks, demanding that the army generals, who took power after toppling al-Bashir, step down.

The army generals had initially insisted on a two-year transition period, while the protest leaders wanted four years.

Atta also said that, during the transitional period, the Parliament will be composed of 300 members, of which 67 percent will be from the Alliance for Freedom and Change and the rest will be from other political groups.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies