Sudanese Opposition Pushes for Constitutional Declaration that Removes Army's Control

Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) during their meeting with the head of UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes (Twitter Account of Perthes)
Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) during their meeting with the head of UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes (Twitter Account of Perthes)
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Sudanese Opposition Pushes for Constitutional Declaration that Removes Army's Control

Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) during their meeting with the head of UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes (Twitter Account of Perthes)
Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) during their meeting with the head of UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes (Twitter Account of Perthes)

Sudan's opposition Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) stressed the need to exclude the army from any future political arrangements, saying military leaders used the remnants of the former regime against the United Nations initiative to solve the crisis in the country.

The Forces handed its vision to resolve the crisis to the head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes.

Perthes met with the FCC as part of UN-facilitated consultations for a political process for Sudan, which will continue engaging Sudanese stakeholders in the next few days.

The vision is based on ending the military coup, restoring the democratic transition, and defining a clear role for the traditional agencies during the transitional period.

The leader of the Forces, Khaled Omar Youssef, said: "We met with the UN Special Envoy for Sudan, based on his invitation to consult on the political process in the country."

He added that the Forces announced that they will deal positively with the initiative provided that it ends the coup and restores the path of civil and democratic transition in the country.

Youssef pointed out that the insurgents welcomed the initiative, but they aligned with the remnants of the ousted regime and continued to kill the peaceful protesters.

The leader explained that the meeting with the UN mission discussed some of the issues related to a constitutional establishment based on a fully civilian state that will lead the transitional phase.

He pointed out that the coalition's vision is to establish a new constitutional declaration that stipulates an entirely civilian transitional authority.

The new constitutional declaration should explicitly redefine the relationship between the civilian component and the military institution to avoid repeating the previous partnership, said Youssef.

The official believes it is crucial to establish healthy relations between civilians and the army based on the military establishment's disassociation from politics, adding that the army must perform its tasks in a democratic society.

The Forces suggested that the transition period should not exceed two years, ending with free and fair elections.

The Forces also stressed the need to include a roadmap for reforming the security and military agencies in the constitutional declaration, with a unified national army.

The Forces also wanted the revolutionary forces to agree on a prime minister and a cabinet to lead the transitional period, providing that consultations on the formation of the transitional state institutions would begin immediately after the military coup was overthrown.

The declaration wants to ensure justice is established in all the crimes committed in the country and all officials are held accountable for their involvement in the dispersal of the sit-in of the General Command and violence against the protests.

The spokesman of the FCC Central Council, Jaafar Hassan, said the Forces agreed on a clear vision to end the current situation and establish the next transitional phase.

The opposition alliance identified the parties to the political process, including the Forces of Freedom and Change, the Resistance Committees, the armed struggle forces that signed and did not sign the Juba Agreement.

The Forces proposed establishing a high-level mechanism in which international and regional parties would be represented by influential figures from the Troika countries, the European Union, and African and Arab countries.



Lebanon: Aoun Says Govt Formation Must Not Be Delayed by Sectarian Demands

This handout picture provided by the press office of the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun (L) meeting with prime minister-designate Nawaf Salam at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on January 17, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the press office of the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun (L) meeting with prime minister-designate Nawaf Salam at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on January 17, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
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Lebanon: Aoun Says Govt Formation Must Not Be Delayed by Sectarian Demands

This handout picture provided by the press office of the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun (L) meeting with prime minister-designate Nawaf Salam at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on January 17, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture provided by the press office of the Lebanese presidency shows Lebanon's new President Joseph Aoun (L) meeting with prime minister-designate Nawaf Salam at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut on January 17, 2025. (Photo by Lebanese Presidency / AFP)

Lebanon’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun said on Thursday that the formation of the government must not be delayed because of sectarian and political complexities, urging the parliamentary blocs to ease the formation process.
“We have just begun restoring the trust between the people and the state. We wish to form a new government that meets the aspirations of the people as quickly as possible”, said Aoun on Wednesday.
He added that extending bridges of trust with the Arab and Western worlds is attainable only if sincere intentions for the good of public interest are there.
Aoun emphasized that the swift formation of a new government gives a positive signal to the whole world, while obstructions and delaying the process because of narrow political and sectarian demands does the opposite.
Lawmakers from the Change Bloc, who had a major role in unifying the ranks of the opposition and garner support for naming Judge Nawaf Salam for the premiership, reject demands for sectarian and partisan quotas to ease the formation process.
They say that the mechanism to form a government should strictly adhere to competency.
Recent reports emerged lately that lawmakers of the Change Bloc want to have two or three ministerial seats in the new lineup, but the MPs themselves denied that.
“We don’t want a ministerial share, plus we reject the notion of quotas. We only take the share we want when we rebuild a country that we aspire for, and when competent and ethical ministers are appointed”, MP Paula Yacoubian of the Change Bloc told Asharq al-Awsat.
MP Firas Hamdan, also of the Change Bloc, reiterated what Yacoubian said. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Change lawmakers do not want ministerial portfolios or any share in the coming government.
He said the bloc refuses the formation of a government based on sectarian and political quotas, akin to old formation practices. “These have proven to be failed practices”, he said.
In order to swiftly form a government and garner confidence for Salam’s government, Hamdan said that the political blocs must bear responsibility in front of the people and the international community and ease the formation.
Director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, Dr. Sami Nader, said in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat that lawmakers of the Change Bloc had a major role in bringing Salam to his post.
“But the question is: will the new regime be one that will bring change, or will it replicate the former rule? If the next scenario is the case, then we can treat the Change Bloc as we treat any other party or political group that gets appeased with ministerial representation. This would be regretful because it would only mean that we went back to the system of quotas”, he stated.