Honeymoon between Islamists and military appears to be over in Sudan
November 10, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Commander-in-Chief of the army and Chairman of the Sovereign Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan issued a stern warning to the former ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and their Islamist allies on November 6, 2022.
“Our message to the NCP and the Islamic movement is, stay away and keep your hands off the armed forces,” al-Burhan said during a speech he delivered at a military base in Khartoum.
These remarks sparked concern among political parties which saw them as an indication that the NCP may be attempting to stage a military coup.
Coup fears
The political secretary of the People’s Congress Party (PCP) Kamal Omer made that fear known in an interview with Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV.
“The head of the military council has information that the NCP is working to summon the military establishment and [it appears] they did not learn from [former president Omer Hassan] al-Bashir’s experience,” he said.
But another PCP official downplayed these concerns saying military coups in Sudan are now a thing of the past.
“The principle of the coup no longer exists as evidenced by how the October 25th coup fared with local and international opinion rejecting it. But the danger lies in a [possible] corroboration between the military junta and the supporters of the former regime. Burhan tried to suggest he is not allied with the disbanded [NCP] party through ambiguous remarks” PCP spokesperson Awad Falasteeni said.
Military analysts in Sudan have long cited the strong presence of Islamists in military institutions as well as the experience they gained during the north-south civil war as a reason why they could be tempted to attempt a coup.
However, they also cautioned that even this would be a very risky gamble given the existence of other military forces. Moreover, all recent coup attempts involving Islamist elements were quickly neutralized.
NCP hits back
Amin Hassan Omer, one of the NCP’s leading figures, said that al-Burhan’s warnings were a result of “extortion” by leftist parties.
“If he is aware that there is someone out there using the army as a tool to rule then he is in the right position to deal with him,” Omar told al-Jazeera.
The end of the honeymoon
Islamists have recently called for demonstrations and mobilization to protest what they described as “foreign interventions” that are pushing for a political settlement involving the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition that Burhan pushed out from the government in his military coup last year.
Islamist leaders revealed that they have engaged in private meetings with Burhan as of late in order to convey their rejection of such a deal and warn of the consequences if it materialized.
They claimed that the army chief called on them to take to the streets to “prove their presence”.
Among those leaders was Nagi Mustafa who said that Burhan told some political figures that he was under immense pressure and that they should come out to show their support for him.
Hassan Osman Rizk, the VP of the Islamist ‘Reform Now’ movement, told supporters who demonstrated in front of the UN mission headquarters in Khartoum “We were in a meeting with Burhan, and he told us you guys have no presence in the streets and have no constitution. Now you see these crowds and battalions and our constitution is ready, drawn from the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and we will deliver it in the coming days.”
Abdel Majid Abdel Hamid, a journalist and a member of the dissolved NCP, told {Sudan Tribune} that al-Burhan held three meetings last month with representatives of Islamic national forces and that in the last meeting he was warned that they will not stand by and watch a new alliance being formed with “political minorities” no matter how much support they have from regional and international forces.
Islamists complain about foreign interference
One of the sources close to Islamists told Sudan Tribune that Islamists believe that Burhan succumbed to foreign pressures and that he himself admitted during those meetings that the West and the Americans in particular are pressing hard for the formation of a credible civilian government.
But according to the source, Burhan cautioned them that the Saudis and the Emiratis in particular still reject any representation of Islamic forces in the civilian government. Egypt on the other hand is not opposed to the assimilation of moderate Islamist figures.
(ST)