News / Sudan

Sudanese protesters want civilian as head of new ruling body

Sunday, 19 May 2019 4:36 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 19 May 2019 4:42 PM ]

Sudanese protesters have called on army rulers to allow a civilian as the head of the new governing council.

Earlier this week, army rulers and protest leaders reportedly reached an agreement on the overall structure of the transitional government.

PressTV-Sudan’s junta, protest reps agree on transition period

Military rulers and protest leaders in Sudan reportedly reach an agreement on a three-year transition period for the transfer of power to an entirely civilian government.

Remaining negotiations between the two sides were scheduled for Sunday to finalize the details.

The Alliance for Freedom and Change, the umbrella group that brought down President Omar al-Bashir after months-long protests against his three-decade rule, said the talks were set to begin at 9:00 p.m(1900 GMT).

The military council had announced the previous night that the new round of talks would be held at the presidential palace in Khartoum.

"The talks will revolve around outstanding issues concerning the representation in the sovereign council and its chairmanship," the alliance said in a statement.

The generals and protest leaders are at loggerheads over the final composition of the next ruling body, the thorniest issue so far in negotiations between the two sides.

The generals insist the new body be military-led but the protest leaders are determined to have a majority civilian body.

On Sunday the protest movement said it is determined to have a "civilian sovereign council led by a civilian as its chairman and having a limited military representation".

The current military council that took power after ousting Bashir on April 11 is headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the generals negotiating with protesters have previously said that Burhan would lead the new governing body too.

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