Sudan’s TMC accepts African proposal on sharing power

By Mohammed Amin

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AA) – Sudan’s ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) said late Friday it has accepted a proposal submitted by the African Union and Ethiopia on sharing power with the opposition.

The announcement comes ahead of nationwide protests that were scheduled to take place on June 30. The opposition has not reacted to the news so far.

In a televised address, TMC spokesman Shams al-Din Kabashi said the council will resume talks with the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) based on the African initiative.

"The TMC has studied the proposal presented by the African Union and Ethiopia, and despite having some reservations, we think it can provide a good base for the talks towards the formation of the transitional institutions," Kabashi said.

He confirmed the TMC’s readiness to immediately return to the negotiation table with the FFC.

The TMC earlier rejected Ethiopia’s initiative, calling on it to combine it with a proposal presented by the African Union. The FFC had accepted Ethiopia’s proposal.

Ethiopia’s proposal calls for allocating the majority of the transitional parliament's seats to the FFC as well as the formation of a council of ministers. It further proposed that the council be shared between civilians and the military by allocating seven seats to each side in addition to one independent civilian who would be chosen through consultations between the two sides.