Ousted Sudan Islamists eye comeback via elections, leader says
July 25, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – The leader of Sudan’s former ruling party, Ahmed Haroun, stated that his Islamist movement would only seek to rule again through elections after the current war, but outlined a vision for a hybrid government where the army it is currently supporting would retain significant power.
In his first media interview in years, Haroun, chairman of the National Congress Party (NCP) and one of four Sudanese officials wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), told Reuters he foresaw the army staying in politics after the war.
“We have taken a strategic decision to not return to power other than by the ballot box after the war,” Haroun said from a hideout in northern Sudan. He argued that a “Western model is not practical in Sudan” and that the country must develop a system that defines a political role for the army.
The declaration comes as the Islamist movement, toppled in a 2019 popular uprising, makes a political comeback by deploying thousands of fighters to support the Sudanese army in its more than two-year war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The conflict has caused what the United Nations calls the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis. While the RSF remains entrenched in much of the country, recent army advances have been attributed by Islamist operatives and military sources to their support.
An NCP document seen by Reuters shows Islamist operatives taking credit for contributing 2,000 to 3,000 fighters to the army’s war effort. Three military sources said fighters linked to the NCP number about 5,000 and serve in “special forces” units that have secured key army gains.
The army leadership has officially distanced itself from any political party. “Some Islamist leaders may want to use the war to return to power, but we say categorically that the army does not ally or coordinate with any political party,” a representative for the army leadership said in response to a request for comment.
Army commander General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has repeatedly said he would not allow the outlawed NCP back into power, yet has enabled the return of Islamist civil servants to high-level government roles.
The RSF has accused the Islamists of orchestrating the conflict. “The Islamists are the ones who set off this war in order to return to power once again, and they are the ones managing this war,” said Mohamed Mukhtar, an advisor to the RSF’s leadership.
The Islamist resurgence and any further alignment with countries like Iran and Turkey could antagonize the United Arab Emirates, which the army accuses of backing the RSF.
“The UAE strongly rejects the allegations that it is supplying weaponry to any party involved in the ongoing conflict,” the Emirati foreign ministry said in a statement, warning that Sudan “risks once again becoming a fertile breeding ground for radical ideologies and terrorist organizations.”