Darfur celebrates end of transitional authority

 Sudan will celebrate on Wednesday the end of the term of the transitional Darfur Regional Authority and the launch of a new mechanism to complement the rest of the Doha Document items.

The Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, signed in 2011, stipulated holding a referendum on Darfur to define its permanent administrative status.

Following a controversial referendum in April 2016, a polling result against the unification of Darfur as a single province meant that the region would remain divided in five states, that the transitional Darfur Regional Authority will be dissolved, giving Khartoum more power over Darfur.

A result in favor of the unification would have led to the creation of a regional government, joining the five states into one semi-autonomous Darfur state.

The Darfur celebration will be attended by Sudanese President Omar Bashir and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, among other leaders.

Source: MENA