Several demonstrators returned to the streets of Khartoum last September 13 to protest the continued role of the armed forces in the political government of the country, but also to express their rejection of any assumption of compromise with the armed forces in the management of the political transition (https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2022/9/14/photos-thousands-continue-anti-military-coup-protests-in-sudan).
The Sudanese Professional Association (SPA) and other resistance committee formations, in fact, strongly criticized the decision of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) to participate in the talks sponsored by the Quad (the United States, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) with the inclusion of representatives of the armed forces. Talks in which, however, the political coalition was reportedly not invited to participate, according to a senior FFC official.
Instead, in the context of the Quad-sponsored meeting on September 15, the chairman of the Sovereign Transitional Council and his deputy, Generals al-Burhan and Dagalo, confirmed the armed forces’ intention not to take part in the forming transitional government, renewing their commitment to facilitating the transition in the direction of a civilian-led government. At the same time, however, they added that they are committed to the establishment of a military council that is to manage the country’s security and defense interests in the transitional phase, raising concerns among opposition political forces. Indeed, the proposal for the organization of a transitional government formulated last week by the Sudanese Lawyers Association envisages the establishment of a national security council headed by a civilian authority, while what has been communicated by the military leadership suggests that the armed forces are embarking on an autonomous initiative, which would be in open contradiction to the proposal formulated within the opposition political framework (https://sudantribune.com/article264141/).
However, in a note issued on September 17 by the spokesman for the chairman of the Sovereign Transitional Council, General al-Burhan froze the expectations of the opposition political forces. Indeed, spokesman Tahir Abu Haja conveyed how General al-Burhan intends to facilitate the transition of power into the hands of a civilian government that is explicitly independent and not an expression of a mere seat-sharing agreement between political forces. An agreement, therefore, that includes all Sudanese political formations and not just the main opposition forces to the military government (https://sudantribune.com/article264174/).
The former deputy secretary of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), Yasir Aman, published an exposé last week in the Sudan Tribune newspaper, claiming how members of the Islamist area traceable to the past regime, through their adherents in the Islamic Movement affiliated with the National Congress Party, allegedly met a few days earlier to plan actions aimed at sabotaging the transition process and favoring the consolidation of their own power. Specifically, according to Aman, these forces would be plotting to fuel disagreements between the military components and the FCCs but also to further the contrast between the regular armed forces (and thus those placed under the operational responsibility of General al-Burhan) and the Rapid Support Forces militias (traceable instead to General Dagalo) (https://sudantribune.com/article262428).
The disclosure was followed by an official statement from the armed forces, on behalf of Brigadier General Nabil Abdallah, that no political force can influence or exploit the armed forces in pursuit of its agenda, reaffirming the military’s commitment to the transition of the country into the hands of a civilian government (http://sudantribune.com/article264125).
