Sudan’s opposition rejects army’s offer to dissolve sovereign council

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – Sudan’s main opposition groups on Tuesday rejected an offer by army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to dissolve the ruling sovereign council after the formation of a new government.

“This offer is an attempt to cheat and win time by the military,” Omer Al-Digiar, a member of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition, told a press conference in the capital Khartoum.

“This is not a real attempt for change. We don’t trust the army as they are continuing to kill protesters while claiming that they are willing to solve the crisis and hand over power to civilians,” he said.

On Monday, al-Burhan said in a televised speech that the sovereign council will be dissolved after the formation of a new government. He added that the army will withdraw from the ongoing political talks and allow political and revolutionary groups to sit together to agree on the formation of a civilian government.

Al-Digiar said his coalition will not attend political talks called by the army chief.

“The army has made no concessions and seeks to give itself more powers in the future,” he said.

“There were no clear mechanism of power transfer and the powers of the civilian government were not clear,” the FFC member said. “Al-Burhan’s speech also didn't talk about the formation of the legislative assembly, nor justice or economic or legal reforms. It was very hard to believe that Al-Burhan’s speech was genuine.”

The army chief’s speech was also rejected by other opposition groups, including the so-called Resistance Committee, which spearheads the current wave of anti-military protests.

Sudan has been in turmoil since last October when the military dismissed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s transitional government, a move decried by political forces as a "military coup."

More than 100 people have been killed in protests against the military since October, according to Sudanese medics.

Talks aimed at resolving the months-long political crisis in the country started last month amid a boycott of the country’s main opposition groups.