Sudanese Military Reshapes Future: What New Government Formation Means

Dubai
A day after army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared he would establish a technocratic wartime administration, military sources told Reuters on Sunday that a new Sudanese government is anticipated to be formed following the completion of the recapture of Khartoum.

Long on the defensive in its conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the Sudanese army has recently made headway in Khartoum along a number of axes, gaining pressure on the symbolic presidential palace along the Nile.

The army's increased aviation capabilities and partner militias' enlarged ground forces have forced the RSF to retreat, despite its declaration that it will back the establishment of a competing civilian government.

"We can call it a caretaker government, a wartime government, it's a government that will help us complete what remains of our military objectives, which is freeing Sudan from these rebels," Burhan said Saturday at a gathering of lawmakers who support the army in Port Sudan, the army's traditional stronghold.

Most of the country's west is under RSF control, and the group is actively working to take over the city of al-Fashir in order to solidify its hold on the Darfur region. Unless the RSF halted that campaign, Burhan ruled out a ceasefire during Ramadan.

More than 12 million people have been displaced by the violence, and half of the population is hungry, making it one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in history.

According to military sources, Burhan stated that the country's interim constitution would be altered to eliminate any mention of collaboration with civilians or the RSF. Instead, the army would be given complete control, selecting a technocratic prime minister who would then form a Cabinet.

Burhan said that the civilian Taqadum coalition members would be welcomed back if they renounced the RSF.


When the two forces cooperated to drive out civilians with whom they had shared authority during the revolt that overthrew dictator Omar al-Bashir, disagreements regarding their integration led to the outbreak of the war in April 2023.