In light of the differences between representatives of the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces over the issue of integrating the latter's elements into the armed forces, it was officially announced that the signing of the final agreement, which was scheduled for today (Saturday), would be postponed to a date yet to be determined.
A spokesman for the political process, Khaled Omar Youssef, revealed that a meeting will be held later today between the civil and military parties, and the tripartite mechanism, to set a new date for signing the final political agreement. In a brief statement, he stated that the signature could not be reached due to lack of consensus on some outstanding issues, without specifying them.
He said that all parties will continue to engage in serious discussions, in order to overcome the last obstacles on the way to reaching an agreement that restores the path of civil democratic transformation, and according to which a civil authority is formed to lead the transitional phase in the country.
The civilian and military participants in the security and military reform workshop failed (Wednesday) to come up with recommendations on issues of reform and integration of the armed forces, as discussions intensified that morning between officers from the army and others from the Rapid Support Forces.
The first party believed that the ranks of the RSF needed to be re-evaluated by the military, while the RSF officers stipulated that the military academy curricula should be re-established and the admission requirements should be amended in line with citizenship rights.
The Sudanese civil and military parties agreed, after months of discussions and disagreements, to sign a final political agreement on the first of April, to sign the draft transitional constitution on the sixth of the same month, and to start forming the transitional authority by the 11th of the same month, in order to return to the normal democratic path. In the country, the handover of governance to a purely civilian authority, however, the recent disputes that raged between the army and the RSF postponed those dates.
Okaz (Khartoum) @okaz_online