Sudan Opposition Accepts Ethiopian Envoy's Proposal for Shared Governing Council

Sudan’s opposition and Ethiopian mediator Mahmoud Dardir have agreed to create a civilian-majority governing body, Sudanese protest leaders confirmed Saturday.

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“Our acceptance of the Ethiopian mediation proposal pushes all the parties to face their responsibilities toward continuing to effort a political solution,” the coalition said in a statement.

A draft of the Ethiopian proposal suggested that the sovereign council would be made up of seven civilians and seven members of the military with one additional seat reserved for an impartial individual, Reuters reports.

The ruling generals and the coalition have been wrangling for weeks over what form Sudan’s transitional government would take after the military deposed and detained long-time president Omar al-Bashir on April 11.

In May, the parties came to an initial agreement that gave two-thirds of a transitional legislative council to the FFC coalition and allowed them to nominate candidates for a merit-based cabinet of ministers. The Ethiopian draft seen by Reuters suggested this would remain the case.

However, both sides were deadlocked on whether civilians or the military would control a new sovereign council to lead Sudan toward elections.

Although Babikr Faisal, a spokesman for the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition, gave no details on the contents of the agreement, the group hopes to proceed to the next step and have the draft proposal approved by the military council.