Sudan’s civil society has secured a major victory by pressuring the military leadership and other political groups to agree to a transitional constitution document, Yousef Bashir writes for Carnegie’s Sada Bulletin:
The initiative of the Steering Committee of the Sudanese Bar Association has enabled Sudanese civil society groups* to move away from begging the authorities to do what is right, through the creation of a democratic framework of government. Still, civil society can hold signatories accountable by using the pressure tools of protests and strikes in case deviations from the framework occur.
But demonstrators again took to the streets on Thursday in a protest led by the Resistance Committees, which have steadfastly rejected any negotiations with Sudan’s military leaders, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, reports suggest:
Last month, the two military leaders signed a ‘‘framework agreement” with Sudan’s main pro-democracy group. The agreement between military and civilian leaders also avoided sensitive political issues concerning transitional justice and reforming the military, a policy that promises to see various armed factions within Sudan integrate into one fighting force.
*Recipients of the National Endowment for Democracy’s 2020 Award.
