Junta leader El Burhan ‘committed’ to Framework Agreement and ushering-in Sudan elections
Sudan junta leader Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan at a speech in 2022 (file photo: Sudan Armed Forces)
KHARTOUM –
The Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereignty Council and junta leader as Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, has affirmed his commitment to the Framework Agreement and his cooperation with all involved parties. The junta head also called for his opponents to reach a comprehensive final agreement, in order to pave the way for a transitional government with civilian leadership leading the country to free and fair elections, by the end of the transitional period.
The Sovereignty Council’s press bureau reported in a statement on Wednesday, that El Burhan met the vice-president of the Sovereignty Council and commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo, alongside six international envoys currently visiting the country.
El Burhan urged the international delegation to fulfil their obligations in supporting the political transition and providing urgent aid to Sudan.
Special Representative of the European Union for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber, told El Burhan that they all agree to support and encourage a comprehensive dialogue process between the Sudanese that leads to a comprehensive agreement.
Weber noted that the meeting of the international delegation with the President of the Sovereignty Council, his deputy and other actors, aims to encourage the parties to move forward in implementing their obligations to reach a civilian-led government.
She stated that “we came to Sudan carrying a message of hope and support for the framework agreement and the efforts of the tripartite mechanism facilitating the Sudanese dialogue”.
FFC-CC
Khaled Omar Yousef, leading member of the Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council and spokesperson for the civilian signatories to the Framework Agreement, expects a positive impact of the visit of the six international envoys in persuading “the specific parties agreed upon“ by the FFC-CC and their affiliates to sign the Framework Agreement.
He said in a press statements following a meeting of representatives of the signatories to the Framework Agreement alongside the international delegation on Wednesday morning, that the “envoys realise that the Framework Agreement represents the most comprehensive political process”. He stressed the need that more of an effort needs to be made to convince non-signatories to agree on the final agreement.
The FFC-CC leader pointed out that there were no differences over the content of the agreement and attributed the rejection to sign to “the lack of political will”, expressing his optimism to make the current path a success.
Concerning the Cairo conference, he said that “the differences are confined to the democratic transition camp and the forces of apostasy, which are seeking to return the situation to before April 11, 2019”, adding that the battle will be resolved in favour of the forces of democratic transition.
Int’l envoys
Representatives and envoys* of the European Union, the USA, the United Kingdom, Norway, France, and Germany, affirmed their support for the Framework Agreement, signed by more than 40 political parties and groups on December 5 last year, and consider it the ideal basis for the formation of the next civilian government in Sudan.
In a statement read on their behalf by Acting US Assistant Secretary of State Peter Lord, following a meeting with the signatories of the Framework Agreement in Khartoum on Wednesday morning, the envoys stated that they consider the Framework Agreement “the ideal basis for establishing constitutional arrangements that will lead to a transitional period which ends with elections”.
The envoys called on the signatory parties to expedite the formation of a civilian government in order to extricate Sudan from the current economic and political crisis.
The signatories to the Framework Agreement said in a press statement that the international envoys promised to “resume economic cooperation programs after the formation of the civilian government on the basis of the ongoing political process”.
In a tweet yesterday by the British Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, Robert Fairweather, he expressed his optimism over the junta leader’s assurances over the military’s committal in “stepping back from politics”.
*The delegation of envoys includes Acting US Assistant Secretary of State Peter Lord, European Union Envoy to the Horn of Africa Annette Weber, British Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Robert Fairweather, French Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Frédéric Clavier, Norwegian Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Jon Anton Johnson, and Thorsten Hutter, Head of the East Africa Division at the German Foreign Office, in addition to the EU, US, UK, Norwegian, French, and German ambassadors to Sudan.
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