Sudanese opposition has many objections to draft Constitutional Declaration

The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) have many comments on and objections to the draft text of the Constitutional Declaration that was handed over on Friday to the parties negotiating an agreement on a transitional period.

In a statement, the FFC (formerly known as Alliance for Freedom and Change/AFC) said the document is being studied by its members.

The Sudanese Professionals Association said the draft text is not final and is not ready to be signed in its current form. In a press release the SPA said that it had started to study the document on Friday evening, in order to make amendments and formulate objections to parts of the draft.

NCF

On Sunday, the National Consensus Forces (NCF, a coalition of leftist opposition parties) announced fundamental reservations about the Constitutional Declaration submitted by the African Union and Ethiopian mediators.

The statement said that the proposed Constitutional Declaration does not establish a real transitional civilian authority and is not in line with the Declaration for Freedom and Change.

The NCF confirmed its full commitment to the previous agreement with the military junta, which was included in the resolution of the African Peace and Security Council No. 854. It said both parties must commit itself to what has been agreed in earlier negotiations.

Communist Party

The Communist Party of Sudan (CPoS) rejected the draft agreement, saying it does not meet the aspirations of the people, nor does it help to dismantle the totalitarian regime.

The party said in a statement that the agreement would mean that all laws restricting freedoms would stay in place, just as the repressive institutions that played a major role in the dismantling of the Khartoum sit-in on June 3. The draft agreement would not help to find solutions for the civil wars in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile either. It may even aggravate the wars and provoke separatist tendencies since the former regime would in fact continue and that regime committed many crimes in those regions, the Communist Party of Sudan fears.

The CPoS said the draft agreement would not change anything concerning the international and regional agreements made by the previous regime, like staying in the Arab alliance that is fighting in the war in Yemen.

Darfur Bar Association

The Darfur Bar Association commented that “the emergence of self-ambitions” characterises the way the FFC negotiates with the TMC. It denounced the failure of the FFC to restore constitutional rule of law.

The lawyers said in a statement that the negotiations about the division of power between the TMC and the FFC swept the FFC away from searching for justice for the victims of the violent disbanding of the sit-in at the army command on June 3 by the military junta. The lawyers affirmed they were fully committed to support the FFC.

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