Sudan .. Concerns about the ambiguity of the status of regular forces by the Constitutional Declaration

Al Jazeera Net-Khartoum

Despite the significant gains that marked the "Constitutional Declaration" signed in Khartoum between the forces of freedom and change and the Transitional Military Council, in preparation for the establishment of a civilian state, concerns about the ambiguous texts on the status of regular forces during the transition period haunt many.

According to the text of the document seen by Al Jazeera Net, Chapter XI speaks that both the Rapid Support Forces and the Armed Forces are a national military institution that protects the national unity and sovereignty of the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and is subject to sovereign authority.

According to observers, the military establishment in all its components has been placed in the hands of military commanders besides the power to appoint the ministers of defense and interior, which means the security grip by the military outside the executive power to be held by the movement.

It is widely believed that the fragile security situation with increasing talk of thwarting several coup attempts prompted the forces of change to accept this temporary situation in view of the need to secure the revolution, especially as the junta is setting itself up as a partner in the change that toppled President Omar al-Bashir.

The agreement placed the controversial RSF and security forces under the authority of the commander-in-chief, but ironically, the position was abolished years ago and it was not understood that a post not included in a constitutional document could be included.

A leader involved in negotiating with the junta says the Freedom Forces negotiators raised the same point with council officials who responded that there was a tendency to restructure the armed forces and re-establish the post, considering what would be stipulated in the document.

Trapping coups
According to the strategic expert Hussein Karshoum in his talk to Al Jazeera Net that talking about the post of commander in chief of the army is the entrance to the reorganization of the armed forces differently, and in a way that can avoid the confusion about the rapid support forces.

Kirchoum cites the dualism that characterized the components of the army's supreme bodies, with the Ministry of Defense linked to the chairmanship of the General Staff, while the Commander-in-Chief remained the president of the republic and had the power to declare war and other major security issues.

"Now they want to separate the Ministry of Defense from the commander in chief," the Sudanese expert said.

But the head of the State of Law Party, Mohammed Ali al-Jazouli, sees in the constitutional and political agreement between the forces of change and the military council only bleak features of the future of the transition period does not differ from the policies of the former regime in the practice of exclusion, marginalization and tyranny of opinion.

He says in a press statement that the forces of freedom and change must recognize that the agreement ended in a state that "has established the rule of the military."

"The agreement made the head of the Sovereignty Council and his deputy military, the two largest sovereign positions of the state, and acknowledged the most serious threat to Sudan's national security: the presence of an army parallel to the Armed Forces of the People, the Rapid Support Forces."

He points out that the agreement in this way makes the civil authority incomplete in the palm of the military "coups puck", the army that carries out coups and intelligence disclosed is not under the authority of the Council of Ministers and does not report to the President of the Council.

Critical lift
From the point of view of the expert Karshum, the agreement tried to address the embarrassment left by the rapid support forces, and succeeded in trapping the ongoing demands at the negotiating table to dissolve or integrate into the army.

He stresses that in the future the RSF will be a "special force" within the army and subordinate to the commander-in-chief, and that this is a serious attempt not to have a striking military system outside the army.

The RSF was part of the NISS's Special Operations Forces (SSI), and its current commander, Hamedati, became the trusted leader of ousted President Omar al-Bashir and was immediately attached to the presidency and then to the army, but several disciplinary problems created numerous tensions. Subordination to the presidency again.

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But the leader of the Freedom and Change Alliance, Mohammed Ateeq, raises questions about the RSF and its subordination to the commander in chief, and sees the need to answer questions about its role, ideology and necessity.

He adds to the island Net "commonly reported as gangs of Janjaweed and committed crimes committed in Darfur burning, looting, rape, murder and displacement."

"First we recognize that it is now a fait accompli. How long will it be a military entity by itself, regardless of its subordination? The decision to have one army in Sudan and therefore must be integrated into other armed and regular forces in the future."

According to Hussein Karshoum, the army should reconsider the nomenclature and structure of all other bodies, so that the command of the commander-in-chief can accommodate all armed forces.

The strategist points to a misconception that has begun to dominate social media after talking about restructuring the army and trying to portray the move as "dismantling the system" and changing its ideology to accommodate armed movements, "which is not at all because the doctrine in the army's custom is the homeland." .

Intelligence Status
On the other hand, the constitutional document stipulates that the intelligence service should be transformed into information gathering, a demand that the opposition forces have been raising for many years, especially since the security of Sudan in the last ten years has become the final order in the state.

Although his influence in other affairs is positive, his notorious reputation for arresting dissidents and harassing the press has overshadowed all other acts, so calls for his role in information are widely accepted.

In this regard, it was announced a few days ago that the name of the agency was changed from "security and intelligence" to "General Intelligence Service", and was interpreted by the director of the move as an attempt to keep pace with developments in the country.

Hussein Karshoum says that the General Intelligence will work with the Foreign Ministry like the CIA, so it has become a modern subordinate to the Council of Ministers and the Council of Sovereignty. Jafar Nimeiri.

Worrying situation
Retired Major General Hamid Ahmed Abdel Alim says the new security situation is worrying.

He tells Al-Jazeera Net that the forces of freedom and change have become possible by virtue of the new understandings are able to all the joints of the decision in the Council of Ministers and the majority of the Council of sovereignty in addition to the majority of seats in the legislature, which makes it work in a spirit of exclusion disturbing the budgets of the security situation required for a country such as Sudan.

He refers to the harmful confusion between people and security institutions in particular by talking about dismantling the security system.

"I am very disturbed about the future of Sudan by a bilateral agreement that does not consider the interest of Sudan and that dismantling is the biggest concern."