Three important documents (April 22, 2019) from Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change and the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA)
These include:
[1] Statement from The Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change
[2] Proposal of governance structures, and the constitution of the state for the transitional period in Sudan
[3] The Situation Regarding the Dialogue with the Transitional Military Council
**********************
[1] Statement from The Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change | 22 April 2019
The Declaration of Freedom and Change, after more than four months of steadfastness and sacrifices made by all sectors and communities of the Sudanese people, our Sudanese revolution is passing through a dangerous juncture.
The remnants of the regime and the opponents of our glorious revolution, are trying to reproduce the old system with the same faces so that our objectives are lost.
The armed forces of our people have contributed a great deal to the promotion and support of the revolution, and the protection of the demonstrators against the bullets and repression of the National Congress Parties’ militias.
Its role must continue until the handover of power to civilians, with the army as a cornerstone of security and defense.
Today, the Political Committee of the Military Council under the chairmanship of Lieutenant General Omar Zine El Abidine, and the membership of Tayeb Babeker, have stood clearly against the success of the revolution’s goals and objectives.
This includes the symbols of the former regime and its allies, and those who were part of it and contributed to the displacement and the torture of Sudanese and the deterioration and collapse of the Sudanese state.
The Sudanese people and their living force represented by the Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change, will not accept any of the symbols of the old regime as part of the process of change.
These are those who stood against it until the last moments before the fall of the deposed Bashir, and the beginning of the disintegration of his regime.
We call upon the armed forces of our people to continue their loyalty and support towards the Sudanese people and their glorious revolution, by immediately and urgently responding to our central demand of the handover of the State to the Transitional Civil Authority; and as a true guarantor towards a safe path that will lead us all towards the realization of the goals of the revolution – namely the Declaration of Freedom and Change.
*****************
[2] Proposal of governance structures, and the constitution of the state for the transitional period in Sudan | Sudanese Professionals’ Association | April 22, 2019
Preamble:
The country is going through a critical journey. Exceptional arrangements are needed in the conditions of governance and its guidance to pass that period with balance and stability; and even from that phase towards sustainable and satisfactory conditions for the people in a democratic civil state based on the values of freedom and dignity Social Justice, equal citizenship, the separation of authorities and the rule of law.
For that, we put here a proposal of transitional arrangements in governance structures, and the constitution of the state, being a National Guide for development, and detail of the declaration of freedom and change, among other documents.
This document addresses five general and institutional issues:
• First, the general arrangements for the formation of the main authorities of the state for the transitional period, with the four bases of a modern constitution, namely –
1) The relationship between the state and citizens (including constitutional rights, protected by state laws and institutions, and citizenship duties);
2) Distribution of authorities (i.e. the designation and clarification of official authorities in the country state);
3) Order the requirements of sovereignty (meaning the establishment of clear arrangements for the requirements of exercise of sovereignty in the state concerned); and
4) Principles, guidelines and general national features (this is generally a broad issue, and in the constitution of the; but it is important, so the people know themselves through their priorities and issues that are central to them – as well as the public perception for a common purpose of the people.
In such circumstances, some talk about the importance of drafting a transitional Constitution, and the purpose of a constitution like this, is the same as we have already mentioned. The process of constitution making is a great, important and continuous process; and it takes time and place through extensive popular participation. The stronger it is and the more people feel it has its constitution, the constitution becomes a real expression of its function as a social contract for the citizens. The public, in the establishment of a specific constitutional conference, that day is when the people without political leadership, will approve the constitution, and under a competent law, they will sign the constitution to be passed by the legislative authority, away from the elites, and not exceeded by contemporary constitutional jurisprudence. The constitution will be taken with us for the new stages of the Sudan state building journey; as we explain below.
That is why we believe that we are currently in need of transitional constitutional arrangements, that allow the administration of the country in accordance with a clear and understandable charter for all forces of change, through which the country can be managed and prepared correctly and democratically, for the permanent constitution. This is what we offer in the present document.
We know that there are other forces of change that agree with us in this matter, as we have stated before. A document like this is less detailed than a constitution, but it meets the fundamental issues related to the structures of governance and the constitution of the state, enough to bring you the forces of change, to the completion of the tasks of the transitional period; it also expresses the ambitions of the revolution and all of the people.
By the committee of experts, which has been assigned to undertake this work, and with the assistance of a wide circle of auditors and reviews, we have prepared this document with contributions; including via experts of Khartoum University, the contributions from Civil Society Groups and others that have signed and support the Forces for The Declaration of Freedom and Change (announced on January 1, 2019). In addition to contributions from other organizations and groups, after diverse, lengthy and meaningful additions, citizens, and Sudanese citizens via email; bringing in their various experiences, knowledge and interests.
Full text (Arabic only; 10 pages): Proposal of governance structures and the constitution of the state, for the transitional period in Sudan
***********************
[3] The Situation Regarding the Dialogue with the Transitional Military Council
The Foreign Relations Committee | The Sudanese Professionals Association, 22 April 2019
On yesterday, the 21st of April, the Forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change (DFC) announced that they are stopping all forms of communication with the Transitional Military Council (TMC). This happened after the TMC called for a meeting to question the intention of the DFC forces to announce the names of its candidates for the civilian sovereign council and the transitional cabinet. The TMC conveyed that it received over a hundred proposals on how to formulate the interim government and it will study all of them to proceed forward. The TMC clearly expressed that it does not recognize the DFC forces as the representative of the protestors in the sitdown strike (sit-in) and that it considers other forces – forces that include allies of the deposed regime – as legitimate partners in the transitional period.
We in the SPA categorically reject this manipulation of the dialogue process and consider it a wicked play from the political committee assigned by the TMC to run the dialogue. This committee is comprised of members who are figures from the previous regime, and its head (Omer Zain Elabdin) was the head of the National Congress Party (NCP) within the army. Zain Elabdin is trying his best to bring back the deposed regime from the window after Sudanese people rejected it in the widest popular referendum. The committee also includes Jalal Eldin Elshiekh the deputy director of the infamous National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) and Eltayeb Babiker, the force behind the infamous public order framework.
Another trick attempted by the TMC political committee is the false framing of the DFC forces as being not ready and fragmented. However, the DFC forces have discussed the three tiers of government and submitted a full proposal of transition to the security council and discussed the proposed names. Many of the political forces in the DFC coalition announced that it will not participate in the interim government and will be committed to nominating a list of professional qualified names for the cabinet.
The main issue of conflict with the TMC is the nature of the sovereign council. While the TMC insists on a fully military council, the DFC forces propose a civilian council with military representation to act as the sovereign head of state in the country.
This statement is to convey the current situation of the current political process in Sudan. The dialogue process is being manipulated by the political committee of the TMC in an attempt to circumvent this revolution and preventing it from achieving its full objectives, but we assure the Sudanese people and the world that as we were victorious in our battle, we shall be glorious in our times of peace.