A tug of war between Hamidati and Al-Burhan

Some Sudanese believed that the relationship between the President of the Sovereignty Council and the Army Commander, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and his deputy, the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo (Hamidati), was similar to the famous poetry of Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan. The political approach, “If there was a hair between me and the people, it would not have been cut.” It was said and how? He said, “Because if they extend it, I will empty it, and if they are empty, I will extend it.”

This is how the relationship between Hemedti and Al-Burhan appeared since the fall of the regime of former President Omar Al-Bashir. Whenever one of them pulled a hair, the other let the other side loose, and vice versa, and with all the rounds of ebb and flow between them, however, the political cord between them did not separate, so cutting it means that one of them stays in his house or goes. To prison, and perhaps they will meet one fate in the end.

The events of the past few days indicated that Muawiyah’s hair was cut off, and the game of tug-of-war had exhausted its purposes, and both could no longer accommodate the other, but rather see it as a problem, and getting rid of it may open the way for resolving an acute political crisis that has been ravaging Sudan for a while.

The two men flirted with different forces in two consecutive speeches last Saturday and Sunday. General Al-Burhan stipulated the integration of the Rapid Support Forces into the military institution to continue the framework agreement signed with the civil forces last December, in an apparent sign that suggests his response to the demand to unify the army and work to restructure it.

And another hidden one stating that the problem is with stray forces/militias that are not completely subject to the traditions of regular armies, foremost of which is the Rapid Support, which is the first clear message confirming that Al-Burhan wants to cut Muawiyah’s hair or end the game of tug-of-war with Hemedti.

Hemedti did not let his rival, Al-Burhan, enjoy reaping the fruit of a long period of friendly and coercive understandings, and surprised him with three painful blows. And the third is the presence of gains reaped by the remnants of the previous regime from this coup, that is, the perceptions of proof that serve the goals of these people.

Al-Burhan’s speech left impressions that the common denominators that linked him to Hamidti had expired, and he wanted to blame him for the consequences of the lack of understanding with the civil forces, in order to evade the entitlement to hand over power to them soon.

The second played on the same approach in a reverse way, and his speech seemed to carry a clear flirtation with the civil forces and the international community concerned with Sudan, and the two parties agree on the importance of ending the role of the army in political life.

Al-Burhan won a lot within the regular military establishment, which is not satisfied with the economic influence and political ambition enjoyed by the leader of the Rapid Support Forces, who turned a militia into an organized military force, but he did not succeed in convincing the civil forces that the node is in rebellion or Hemedti’s reluctance.

Hemedti won within his forces, whose role was recently extended, and delivered a strong message that he was not loyal to the idea of ​​the army’s domination of civilian power, as evidenced by his review of his position on the military coup, and he will remain supportive of the framework agreement with its civilian strength, and rejects the return of the remnants or their control over the army, which are the points that find sympathy and acceptance among the forces. The civil authority that controls the keys to the solution and the contract in the Alliance for Freedom and Change, the wing of the Central Council.

It is noteworthy that the moves taken by Al-Burhan or Hamidti are far from resolving the political crisis from its roots, as both of them are working to devote their influence by the means they see fit, and try to attract supporters in different ways. However, the result is the same. Neither this one wants to unite the military establishment, nor does the other seek to enable the civilian forces to truly gain power.

Each side uses the tools it possesses to strike the other, cutting the hair of a ball and ending the game of tug-of-war. The goals are discordant, and the means used by both will not lead to a return to understanding again, no matter how much some parties try to bring the distances between them closer.

The speech delivered by Al-Burhan was directed directly at Hamidti and his team, just as the speech of the latter targeted the first and his comrades, and the game between them no longer tolerated resorting to tricks or political games, after which they returned to the agenda that defined the features of the understanding between them.

There is a defining moment to end a relationship. The aspirations of each person are different, and both believe that he contributed to the success of the revolution against Al-Bashir, saved the country from the unknown, and played a great role in preventing Sudan from entering a darker tunnel.

Al-Burhan believes that his leadership of the military institution is a sufficient card to enable him to manage Sudan the way he sees it, while Hamidti believes that his lack of support for this institution must be compensated by an attempt to rapprochement with the civil forces to adjust the balance, and in this midst both of them manage their relations with regional and international forces in a way that enhances their importance to obtain for her blessing and support.

Sudanese know that Al-Burhan and Hamidti are two sides of the same coin, and they will not meet on one goal, and many of them expected the moment of separation, but none of them knew the result that would result from it. The estrangement may have a heavy political cost, and the loss of one party does not mean a gain for the other here, as it could be a loss for Sudan itself, which confirms that cutting Muawiya’s hair brings with it coarse repercussions that no one knows the extent of the ability to absorb.

It is noteworthy that the dispute appeared for him in many trials, and it did not reach its peak except during the past days, which became doubtful about the possibility of encircling it, as happened in previous times, because the quarrel or duel this time came in public, and took an intentional form, it is difficult to say that it indicates the ability Superior they have to distribute roles to sabotage the political process.

What happened reinforced convictions of the impossibility of coexistence between two men, both of whom carry different political, social and military genes. The craving for power is enough to indicate that the rupture is inevitable, which puts the civil forces and armed movements in an unenviable position. If they support one of them or reject both of them, the Sudanese state can be exposed. For more crises, it may have no choice but to wait for the final outcome of the new battle, and accordingly it can determine the location of its steps, and take it as an opportunity to correct its conditions that led to its manipulation.