A deal between civilians, the military and paramilitaries that would theoretically allow Sudan’s transition to democracy after a 2021 military coup has been postponed again, the people negotiating it announced last night, calling for mass mobilization today, the anniversary of the uprisings. of the people against military regimes.

The framework agreement, the signing of which was already postponed for the first time last week, foresees a return to a transitional government with the participation of civilians and the military. This is a condition sine qua non for the resumption of international aid to the country, one of the poorest in the world. It was expected to be signed yesterday, but it did not happen, the Forces for Freedom and Change (DEA) faction said in a statement.

“The signing was postponed due to the resumption of military talks (…) on April 1 and 6,” according to the text. “Negotiations have progressed on many issues, but one issue still remains to be finalized,” he continued, which, according to observers, is how to integrate the paramilitary Rapid Reaction Forces (RAF) into the regular army.

It is no longer disagreements between civilians and the military that prolong the stalemate in Sudan, but the rivalry between the country’s de facto leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan—the army chief who launched the October 25, 2021 coup— and of the second the rank in the hierarchy of the regime, of General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, head of the paramilitaries who starred in the Darfur war and have now formed the DTA.

April 6 is the day of two important anniversaries for the democratic movement in Sudan: the uprisings of 1985 and 2019, which — 34 years apart — led to the fall of two leaders who had seized power in coups.

The DPA again called on all Sudanese to march today, “peacefully”, in all provinces, for “freedom, peace and justice”, to demonstrate against the military and the “return to the old regime”, with other words the dictatorship of generals and Islamists under Omar El Bashir, which was overthrown in 2019, but many of its officials found themselves back in positions in the state apparatus after the coup of General Burhan in 2021.

Protests against the military junta in Sudan have not stopped since, despite a bloody crackdown — 125 people have been killed, according to a collective of doctors.

In view of today’s mobilization, the authorities declared April 6th a holiday. Strong army forces were also deployed yesterday in various districts of the capital Khartoum and its suburbs, in particular they set up barricades on the bridges over the Nile, according to eyewitnesses.