Sudanese rebel groups engaged in peace talks with Khartoum insisted Wednesday that the country’s new parliament be formed only after an agreement is reached to end long-running conflicts in three border regions.
A power-sharing deal signed on August 17 between protest leaders and the generals who ruled Sudan after the April overthrow of longtime president Omar al-Bashir stipulates that a 300-member parliament be formed within three months.
Since the signing of the so called “Constitutional Declaration”, the transitional government, led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, has engaged in talks with three rebel groups to reach a peace deal to end the wars in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
Rebel groups said that during talks in the South Sudanese capital of Juba, the two sides had agreed to delay the formation of a new parliament until a peace deal has been reached.The groups said they would not give up their demand despite the protest movement’s insistence on the original November 17 deadline stipulateed by the so-called “Constitutional Declaration”.