Sudan political groups propose one-year pre-transition period

February 11, 2025 (PORT SUDAN) – A roadmap proposed by political forces in Port Sudan suggests a one-year preparatory period before starting a transitional phase in the country.

The roadmap, a copy of which Sudan Tribune obtained, ends the preparatory period with a dialogue conference inside Sudan to determine the length of the transitional period.

Political forces presented the roadmap to the head of the Sovereign Council and army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, on February 8 to establish a political process after the end of the war.

After receiving the roadmap, Al-Burhan said he would work to establish a war government or a caretaker government to complete the transition tasks and help the army in the remaining military operations “to cleanse Sudan of the Rapid Support Forces.” He stressed that the upcoming government would be formed by independent experts.

He spoke of amending the constitutional document, signed with the Forces for Freedom and Change in 2019, to serve as the constitutional reference for the transitional period.

The most prominent political forces that participated in the roadmap were the Democratic Bloc and the parties allied with the National Congress during its rule, led by the National Movement Alliance headed by al-Tijani Sisi, the Sudan Justice Alliance (nine) headed by Bahr Abu Garda, and the Popular Congress Party led by al-Amin Mahmoud.

The roadmap assigned specific tasks to the preparatory period: stopping the war, releasing all detainees, holding a dialogue conference, appointing a government of national competencies, and integrating all movements and armies to build a unified national army.

It also included a number of issues before the dialogue conference, most notably: identity, the form of government, state administration, the relationship between civilian and military components, the transition to civil rule, and criteria for selecting office holders.

The dialogue conference includes all spectrums except those against whom legal rulings have been issued under war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The roadmap did not mention banning the participation of the National Congress Party, which has been a feature of political documents and roadmaps since the fall of the ruling regime in 2019.

It approved the continuation of the Sovereign Council of military and civilians and the formation of a national unity government of national competencies without party quotas.

It also defined the transitional period’s tasks, which include implementing the outcomes of the dialogue conference, holding a constitutional conference, and starting reconstruction.

The roadmap affirmed its commitment to implementing the Juba Agreement in all its clauses.

It assigned the issue of transitional justice to a special commission, stressing the categorical rejection of any “party interference” in the work of the prosecution and the judiciary.