Sudan: RSF-led alliance announce creation of parallel government
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and its allies have officially established a parallel government in areas under their control, according to AP News on July 28th.
The RSF’s presence is predominantly located in the vast western region of Darfur, where it has been accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by various rights agencies, including the United Nations.
The paramilitary group also has a notable presence in the Kordofan region, where its fighters recently killed over 450 civilians in a series of extremely violent raids on villages.
The formation of the parallel government was announced on July 26th and risks worsening an already devastating situation in Sudan. The country has been embroiled in a catastrophic civil war since April 2023 after a power struggle between the RSF and the military turned violent.
RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, was appointed by the rebel coalition known as the Tasis Alliance to head the new government’s sovereign council. He will lead a 15-member council that serves as head of state.
The parallel government was announced by alliance spokesperson Alaa al-Din Naqd in a video shot from the Darfur city of Nyala, which is firmly under RSF control.
Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi was named as the prime minister of the new RSF-led government. Al-Taishi was once a member of the military-civilian sovereign council that ruled the country after long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in 2019.
Rebel leader Abdelaziz al-Hilu was appointed as Hemedti’s deputy in the council. Al-Hilu commands the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which operates in the southern Kordofan region. The SPLM-N is an offshoot of the SPLM, which is the ruling party in South Sudan.
The establishment of the parallel government came five months after the Tasis alliance’s formation in February in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. The RSF and its allies signed a charter that declared the intent to create an administration that would directly rival the authority of the military-backed government.
At the time, numerous countries, including the US, denounced the charter and denied it any political legitimacy. The foreign ministry of the internationally recognised government operating from Khartoum condemned the announcement and labelled it a “fake government.” It also requested the international community not to engage in any capacity with its new rival.
This momentous development is likely to further polarise the already war-torn nation. Rebel leader Yasir Arman stated that the move would likely prolong the conflict and bisect Sudan into two rival administrations – similar to the situation in neighbouring Libya.
Experts agree with this sentiment. Prior to the announcement, Sudanese analyst Mohamed Latif explained that “we will then have a government in eastern Sudan and another one in western Sudan, a situation that to some degree mirrors that in Libya.”
He cautioned that the formation of a parallel government “will enshrine the partition of Sudan, which everyone has been warning against.”
AP News, Maghrebi.org, UNICEF, World Food Programme
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