Sudan’s ruling military council and pro-democracy civilian opposition alliance signed a landmark power-sharing deal on Saturday, reported The Guardian. According to the deal, there will be a new governing council of six civilians and five generals till the time elections are held in the country.

Several regional leaders, including the prime ministers of Ethiopia and Egypt and the South Sudanese president, attended the signing ceremony in Khartoum. The two sides have agreed to rotate control of the council for just over three years. A prime minister nominated by civilians will be appointed next week.

Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, who is the deputy head of the military council and is considered Sudan’s most powerful man, pledged to abide by the terms of the deal. “We will stick to every single letter we have agreed on,” he told BBC. “Even without the agreement we [would] have to work in this direction because it’s in the country’s interest. Therefore we have to carry out the agreement, stick to it and support it.”

Sudan has been facing unrest since December 2018 when President Omar al-Bashir imposed emergency austerity measures. It sparked demonstrations, and soon there were demands to remove al-Bashir. He was overthrown in April by the military. But the demonstrators then demanded that authority be transferred to a civilian administration.