With a pro-army alliance.. Is the formation of an emergency government in Sudan close?

Al-Burhan (right) receives a delegation from the National Forces Coordination headed by Malik Aqar (Sudanese Press)

Days after Lieutenant General Yasser Al-Atta, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Army, called for the formation of an emergency government or what he said was a war government, the National Forces Coordination, led by the Deputy Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Malik Agar, announced last Wednesday its intention to sign a political pact with the army as part of efforts to end the resulting political crisis. About the outbreak of war with rapid support and the formation of an imminent emergency government.

The coordination immediately received wide recognition from the authority in Port Sudan, where it met with the head of the General Intelligence Service, and its leaders arrived yesterday, Friday, at the Wadi Sidna military base in Omdurman to show support for the army.

The delegation was secured to tour Omdurman, where the radio and television headquarters were recovered from the Rapid Support a few days ago.

How was the National Forces Coordination formed?

Under the chairmanship of the Deputy Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Malik Aqar, the National Forces Coordination held a founding conference in Port Sudan during the period between the eighth and tenth of this March, at the conclusions of which they agreed to support the armed forces and assist them in their battle against the Rapid Support, in addition to encouraging popular mobilization and crystallizing a unified vision about unifying the political and national components. With recommendations that help in coordination work and expand its umbrella to include all national forces.

What forces are involved in coordination?

According to the Secretary-General of the Coordination Committee, Muhammad Sayed Ahmed Al-Jukoumi, the nascent movement represents a wide spectrum of political and national blocs and organizations supporting the country’s sovereignty and the army in its war against the Rapid Support Forces, including entities representing eastern Sudan, the Revolutionary Front led by Al-Jukoumi, and the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Mustafa Tambour and others.

Many participants in the new coalition say that the primary goal of its formation is to bring together all national forces in a constitutional conference to make the Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue successful without excluding any party. However, political forces on the other side reduce the political weight of the groups that make up the coordination and say that they do not find support in the Sudanese street. .

The position of the Sudanese army was strengthened in the conflict after it took control of the radio headquarters in Omdurman (communication sites)

Is the charter a gateway to an emergency government?

Four months after the start of the war between the army and the Rapid Support, Malik Aqar, Vice President of the Sovereignty Council, proposed forming a government to run the state according to specific tasks.

On the third of last October, the delegation of the National Mechanism to Support Civil Democratic Transition and Stop the War met with Al-Burhan, after which the Mechanism’s rapporteur, Adel Al-Mufti, stated that the Army Commander had handed them a road map that included stopping the war and forming an emergency government, which would undertake the tasks of implementing national obligations with regard to development, urbanization, and relief to the affected Sudanese. From the war and opening humanitarian corridors for aid to enter the states of Khartoum and Darfur.

In November 2023, the authority made limited ministerial reshuffles without declaring an emergency government.

But Yasser Al-Atta, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Army, called on the Sovereignty Council in statements last week to form a war government.

National Forces Coordination spokesman Mustafa Tambour told Al Jazeera Net that the country is witnessing a constitutional vacuum that requires the formation of a war government that can end the rebellion and manage the wheel of work better, and indicates that the political agreement with the army will confirm the formation of this government from the strongest elements after creating a large national bloc. In the coming days.

Why sign a charter with the army?

A few days after its founding conference, the coordination leadership met with Army Commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, followed by another meeting with the director of the General Intelligence Service.

According to Tambour, the delegation informed Al-Burhan of the results of the founding conference and conveyed its support for the armed forces in their war against the Rapid Support, and also stressed that no political process would be launched unless the rebellion was eliminated.

Tambour believes that the upcoming charter represents a very strategic and important step by national political forces that work from within and have continued to stand by the Sudanese people and their national army before and after the war.

What are the features of the upcoming charter?

The most prominent features of the document that will be signed with the army, according to Tambour, are the affirmation of the legitimacy of the armed forces in defending the Sudanese people and their gains and guarding the country from any internal or external threats, in addition to rejecting any political settlement with the Rapid Support Group, which is implementing what he said is “a plan the UAE seeks to achieve.” During which to dismantle Sudan and plunder its wealth.”

The charter also rejects any solutions imposed from outside and emphasizes the necessity of creating the largest national bloc under the umbrella of the coordination of national forces led by Malik Aqar, which includes all political and civil forces, the civil administration, Sufi orders, Christian sects, and youth and women’s organizations, while emphasizing the necessity of the role of the armed forces in the remainder of the period. A transition begins after the end of the rebellion.

Is the agreement an attempt to politicize the military establishment?

Mubarak Ardoul, leader of the Democratic Bloc (an organization that supports the army), expresses his refusal to sign the upcoming charter with the army, saying that the armed forces are a national institution that does not represent a political, regional, or ideological spectrum, and has technical tasks related only to preserving the country and protecting the constitution, which is created by consensus between political forces. Civil and social matters, through a correct, comprehensive and transparent process, and the people will later ask a referendum on it.

Erdol told Al Jazeera Net: "If the army leadership decides to repeat the same experience of the framework agreement, the least that can happen now is the dismantling of the home front and the dispersion of the popular consensus and rally it has gained since the start of the war."

The framework agreement was a draft agreed upon between the army and civilian forces, but it met with opposition from the Rapid Support Commander.

This led to the outbreak of the current fierce war.

Ardoul believes that the National Forces Coordination rushed to meet with Burhan and reach an agreement with him without meeting with the rest of the blocs and other forces to agree on the minimum national issues. He added: “It is clear that it is a process of politicizing the army, strengthening it, and bringing it into the political arena.”

On the other hand, Tambour stresses that the imminent agreement does not mean politicization of the military establishment, but it strengthens the role of the army in this critical stage that the country is going through, and he considers that the forces that reject any political role for the army are the same ones that signed the constitutional document with it and shared power with it.

Tambour says that the country is witnessing a constitutional vacuum that requires the formation of a war government that can end the rebellion (Al Jazeera)

Is the Charter a response to the Addis Ababa Agreement?

Since the start of the war, the political forces have been divided between supporters of the army, sides with Rapid Support, and a third group standing in the middle, as political analyst Ahmed Moussa says.

In his interview with Al Jazeera Net, Musa suggested that the National Forces Coordination’s movements were in response to the signing of the Civil Forces Alliance to “provide” an agreement with the Rapid Support in Addis Ababa about two months ago, saying: “It is more of a reaction than an original act.”

He points out that the upcoming charter does not have to be political and is not expected to include provisions clarifying what might happen in the future, but rather are merely confirmations of alignment towards the goal of eliminating the rebellion.

He added: "It could establish a joint political vision that leads to the formation of a war government, especially with the statements of military officials that the state needs an agile war government."

On the other hand, Tambour stresses that the agreement with the army is not a reaction, but rather a move according to steps and a clearly defined national program.

Source: Al Jazeera