Sudan: Military Council Rejects Ethiopian Transition Initiative, Calls For AU And Ethiopia To Unity Efforts
By Neo Sithole
Sudan's ruling military council has appealed to the African Union and Ethiopia to unify their efforts in outlining a blueprint for a political transition in the crisis-hit country.
On Sunday, Shams al-Din Kabashi, spokesman for TMC, said the council rejected the Ethiopian initiative but had agreed in principle to the AU's plan. Details of the AU proposal were not immediately known.
“The African Union's initiative came first," said Kabbashi, adding that the council had not studied the Ethiopian initiative, which he described as unilateral. "We asked the mediators to unite their efforts and submit a joint paper as soon as possible to return the parties to negotiations," Kabbashi said
A draft of the Ethiopian proposal, seen by the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies, suggested that a ruling sovereign council would be made up of seven civilians and seven members of the military, with one additional seat reserved for an impartial individual.
Ahmed Rabie, spokesman for the opposition Alliance for Freedom and Change, said the council was to have a rotating chairmanship. The majority of the civilians on the interim body would come from the alliance, he told AP
Kabashi also defended Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, saying that both countries, along with Egypt, "have provided unconditional support" to the Sudanese people.
Egypt has voiced its support for the military council, pressing the African Union not to suspend Sudan's activities in the regional block. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have pledged $3bn in aid to shore up its economy.
Sudanese activists fear that the three countries are pushing the military to cling to power rather than help with democratic change, given that the three Arab states are ruled by leaders who have clamped down on political freedoms in their own countries.
Jon Temin, the Africa Director at Freedom House, a non-governmental body, said the military appears to be stalling for time.
"I would characterise it as classic Sudanese delay tactics. And we have seen this before from previous regime trying to play mediators off against each other to buy time and have this sort of circular conversation and ultimately end up going nowhere," he said.
Talks between the ruling generals and the Forces for Freedom and Change coalition collapsed when security forces stormed a protest sit-in outside the Defence Ministry on June 3, killing dozens.
The army later expressed "regret" over the "excesses" that happened on June 3.
The makeup of the sovereign council was the main outstanding sticking point between the two sides before the talks collapsed. The military council cancelled all agreements it had reached with the coalition after the sit-in's dispersal.
Ethiopia and the AU have stepped up diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Sudan which has been wracked by tensions between the protest leaders and generals.
An attempted coup in Ethiopia on Sunday has posed hurdles for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who tried to mediate to resolve the deadlock.
"Certainly, the prime minister [Abiy] has a lot on his plate given developments today and yesterday," Temin told Al Jazeera from Arlington Virginia.
"I think Ethiopia probably is about as good among the regional countries a mediator one can hope for, but they do not have leverage on their own.”
Temin said that the US at least in its rhetoric has been "forceful" in support for a move towards "civilian rule”.
"But the question is whether the US is actually going to put actual muscle behind that.
Africa
Education
Joburg
South Africa
Greatest Africans