Sudan Bar Association to consult pro-democracy forces on draft constitution

The Steering Committee of the Sudan Bar Association announced that it will hold meetings with the various groups that participated in the drafting of a new version of the transitional constitution that was concluded earlier this week.

Lawyer Ali Geiloub, head of the SBA steering committee, said in a press conference yesterday that they received the latest version of the transitional constitution from the Committee of Experts on Monday.

A copy of the text was presented to the drafting committee of a number of pro-democratic political forces, who proposed some amendments, and approved the final version.

The SBA steering committee intends to hold meetings with the various groups that participated in the preparation of the text, in order “to achieve the largest national consensus on the project”.

These groups include resistance committees, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu in southern Sudan, the mainstream Sudan Liberation Movement in Darfur, headed by Abdelwahid El Nur, the Communist Party of Sudan, the Forces of Freedom and Change-Central Council, and other, smaller revolutionary forces.

Geiloub explained that the draft of the transitional constitution consists of 12 chapters containing 76 articles. The text stipulates the tasks and structures required for the transitional period, including the nature of the state, the supremacy of the Constitution and the law, Bill of Rights, the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary, the removal of the empowerment legacy from the regime of Omar al Bashir (1989-2019), and the achievement of peace in the entire country.

On August 9, the SBA launched a three-day workshop on arrangements for a transitional constitutional framework.

One of the key recommendations made by the workshop participants is about distancing the military from politics with the aim of establishing a full democratic civilian government.

The group also highlighted the importance of transitional justice for Sudan, which would require comprehensive reform of the military system, the security apparatus, and the judiciary, all based on a new transitional constitution document and laws revised “according to the rights of the people which constitute the core of the revolution”.

On the last day of the workshop, a group of men in civilian clothes carrying metal polls, stones, and loudspeakers attacked the SBA premises in El Amarat in Khartoum.

The group reportedly included lawyers affiliated with the ousted regime of Al Bashir and associates of various other right-wing political groups.