Sudan: Formation of transitional parliament to be postponed

The Forces of Freedom and Change Alliance (FFC) announced the postponement of the formation of the transitional parliament to the end of the year.

The agreement signed between the FFC and the military in August 2019 stipulated that the Legislative Council  will be formed within three months. It was to be made up of 300 members, 40 per cent of whom would be women.

The peace agreement signed on 3 October with an alliance of rebel groups in the capital of South Sudan, Juba, was the cause of the delay.

The FFC, leader of the popular protests that toppled former President Omar Al-Bashir, said in a statement that the alliance “seeks a national understanding”.

The statement added that “in order to take into account the views of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) and hold an inclusive dialogue on the distribution of seats with factions that are not affiliated with the coalition, it has been decided to postpone the formation of the council until 31 December 2020.”

The SRF is a coalition of armed movements established in 2011, which fought against government forces in the Darfur region, South Kordofan, and the Blue Nile.

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According to the political agreement, 67 per cent of parliament seats should go to the FFC, with the remainder distributed among other parties.

In early November, an FFC official proposed 165 seats for the FFC, 75 seats (25 per cent) to the SRF, and 60 seats to the rest of the parties.

The Transitional Parliament’s task is to issue legislation until general elections are held in 2022.