Sudan’s resistance committees have called for nationwide protests after widely rejecting an internationally-brokered political deal between the country’s military leaders and key civilian elites set to be signed on Monday.
The agreement aims to resolve the political crisis created when the military seized power in October 2021 and build a civilian-led democratic transitional government, but opponents believe it is just a reproduction of the coup and could even allow associates of the previous regime to return to power.
The signatories of the agreement, set to be inked on Monday, will include the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), the Islamist Popular Congress Party (PCP), the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the rebel coalition of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF).
The signing of the deal will be attended by the so-called “Quad powers”, which include the United States, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with the support of the European Union, the United Nations, the African Union, and the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) trade bloc.
FFC spokesman Shihab Ibrahim said he believes that the agreement is the first step to end the military coup and put the country back on the democratic transitional path.
“We made this agreement in order to end the coup and to stop the political and economic deterioration, paving the way for the democratic path and return to the period before the 25 October 2021 military coup,” Ibrahim told Middle East Eye.
However, some political blocs are resisting the deal and have accused the future signatories of enabling the military to have the upper hand in the country.
Sudan’s resistance committees, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) and the Communist Party will organise nationwide protests on Monday as the deal is signed.
The resistance committees have previously vowed to continue protesting against any deal of power-sharing between civilians and the military, raising what they call the “three no’s”: “no negotiations, no compromise and no legitimacy”.
“This agreement is only ink on paper and we will bring it down very soon, much like the agreement between the former prime minister and the military in November 2021. We will not be ruled by the military again,” the resistance committees said in a statement.