UPDATES WITH MTC STATEMENT, ADDS BACKGROUND
KHARTOUM (AA) – Sudanese opposition groups on Wednesday rejected a proposal by the African Union (AU) to give Sudan’s ruling Military Transitional Council (MTC) a three-month deadline for handing over power to a civilian authority.
Opposition leaders rejected the proposal at a joint press conference held in Khartoum by representatives of the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), the opposition National Consensus and Sudan Appeal parties, and a handful of civil-society organizations.
“We didn’t call on the army to assume power; we called on it to stand with the people,” opposition spokesman Omar al-Deqir told reporters.
On April 11, the Sudanese army announced the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir following months of popular demonstrations against his 30-year rule.
The MTC is now overseeing a two-year “transitional period” during which it has promised to hold presidential elections.
At a Tuesday AU summit in Cairo, participants proposed giving the MTC a three-month deadline for relinquishing power to a civilian administration.
“The summit in Cairo saw the AU’s earlier deadline for relinquishing power [to a civilian authority] extended from 15 days to three months,” Bassam Radi, a spokesman for Egypt’s presidency, said in a statement.
According to Radi, summit participants had agreed that 15 days was “insufficient” for the handover of power.
Egypt currently holds the AU’s rotating chairmanship.
The MTC, for its part, says it is “still holding talks” with Sudan’s Freedom and Change Alliance, which includes the SPA and a number of opposition parties.
In a statement, the military council said that it plans to resume talks with the opposition alliance at a meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening.