A sudden withdrawal of army representatives from the closing session of the security and military reform workshop on Wednesday sparked widespread debate about the future of the ongoing political process, which is scheduled to culminate in the signing of the final agreement on Saturday.
However, the armed forces said they are committed to the political process, according to a statement issued by their spokesperson.
Military sources revealed that the reason for the withdrawal of the army representatives from the session was due to the failure to reach specific times and bases for integrating the Rapid Support Forces into the army, which the head of Mrs. Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan’s council said earlier that it is a prerequisite for proceeding with the political process.
Khaled Omar, the official spokesman for the political process, stated that the workshop concluded the necessity of integrating the Rapid Support Forces and the fighters of the armed movements that signed the Sudanese peace agreement in October 2020 into the army according to the known technical foundations.
Omar said that the process of unifying the Sudanese army will take place on the basis of a paper of general principles agreed upon between the civilians and the military who signed the framework agreement on December 5, 2022.
In previous statements, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, Vice President of the Sovereignty Council and Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, said that he is committed to integrating his forces into the army as stipulated in the framework agreement, but he stressed that the merger process requires specific procedures and steps and according to a timetable to be agreed upon.
The draft transitional constitution on which the framework agreement was built provides for the unification of the country’s armed forces into one professional army.
Fears arose following the withdrawal of army representatives from the closing session of the Security Reform Conference that the move would delay the political process.
A committee of civilians and military personnel finished drafting the final agreement, which will be signed after the formation of the power structures on the eleventh of April.
The tripartite mechanism consisting of the United Nations, the African Union, the IGAD group and the Quartet consisting of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the United States and Britain facilitated intensive negotiations that lasted more than 6 months to reach a solution to the crisis in Sudan.
It is expected that the transitional constitution prepared by the Bar Association will constitute a legal basis for a transitional period of two years.
The constitution provides for the establishment of a civil state that follows the federal system of government and is composed of a civilian sovereignty council, a civilian cabinet, and a legislative council.
The constitution also provides for merging the military forces into one professional army, distancing it from political action, and limiting its tasks to defending the sovereignty and protection of the country’s borders and the transition process, and implementing policies related to security and military reform.
The constitution named the civilian head of state the supreme commander of the army, and determined the affiliation of the police and security services to the executive authority, with the prime minister being their supreme commander.
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