Sudan opposition rejects deadline for handover of power

KHARTOUM

The Sudanese opposition 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 press conference attended by representatives of the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), the opposition National Consensus and Sudan Appeal parties, and several 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.

At a Tuesday AU summit in Cairo, attendees floated the notion of giving the MTC a three-month deadline for relinquishing power to a civilian administration.

“The Cairo summit saw the AU’s earlier deadline for relinquishing power [to a civilian government] extended from 15 days to three months,” Bassam Radi, a spokesman for Egypt’s presidency, said in a statement.

According to Radi, summit attendees had agreed that a 15-day deadline was “insufficient”.

Egypt currently holds the AU’s rotating chairmanship.

On April 11, the Sudanese army announced the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir following months of popular protests against his 30-year rule.

Four days later, the AU’s Peace and Security Council gave Sudan’s new military rulers 15 days to hand over power to a civilian authority or have its membership in the pan-African body suspended.