Sudanese citizens took to the streets Friday in the capitol city of Khartoum to celebrate a new deal struck with the military council to share power with civilians.
Protestors in the nation have been fighting for some form of civilian rule since former President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir was removed from office in April. Civilian protestors were met with armed military guards during several protests, and the resulting death toll began to garner the attention of international audiences.
The new agreement calls for the formation of a transitional rotating sovereign council that will govern over the course of three years, led by the military for the first 21 months and a civilian administration in the 18 months following. The joint sovereign council will consist of five members of the military and five civilians. In addition to those members, one neutral civilian will be chosen by consensus from both sides, according to CNN.
“We hope it is an era where we can shut off the sound of pistols and destroy for good prisons of arbitrary detention,” Omer El-Digair, a leader of the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change, a coalition representing the protesters, said at a news conference, according to The Associated Press.
The agreement was mediated by the Ethiopian government, as well as the African Union. But despite the celebratory mood, some in the protest camp were not fully thrilled with the agreement.
"I am not fully satisfied, but it is a step forward to bring peace to our people,” Tarek Abdel Meguid, another FDFC leader, told The Associated Press. “We had a civilian revolution, and the very idea of power sharing with the military was already rejected by the Sudanese people, but this is what the balance of power dictated.”
Despite the worry and watchful attitude of some in the protesters' rank, a statement put out by the Sudanese Professionals Association, which led the protests that took down Bashir, called the deal a victory.
"Today our revolution is triumphant," the SPA said in the statement, which was posted on its Facebook page. "We will continue to accomplish the goals of the revolution."
