In Sudan, General “Hemetti” believes that the putsch “failed to bring change”

The number two of military power in Sudan, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo known as “Hemetti”, estimated on Monday 1^er August evening, which the putsch of October 2021 had “failed to bring change”. “And the situation is only getting worse”said the boss of the very feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (FSR), dressed as a general, in an interview broadcast by the BBC in Arabic. “Of course there are positives, but there are also negatives”he continued, citing in particular the cessation of international aid (2 billion dollars per year) and the demonstrators killed (at least 116 killed by the security forces since the putsch, according to pro-democracy doctors ).

Asked about a possible candidacy in the general elections promised by the new power led by the head of the army, General Abdel Fattah al-Bourhane, in July 2023, General Daglo refused to say, like General Bourhane , that he would not show up. “I have no ambition to present myself […] but if we see that Sudan is heading towards the abyss, we will be there, we are part of the Sudanese people”he said, while experts often point to the competition between the army and the paramilitaries – and especially between their respective leaders within the military power itself.

Political and economic slump

Composed of Janjawid militiamen accused of atrocities during the long and deadly war in Darfur (west), the FSR have also been accused of being involved in the repression of the 2019 revolt which ended thirty years of military-Islamist dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir and launched a transition carried out hand in hand by civilians and soldiers. But since the generals brutally dismissed their civilian partners on October 25, 2021, Sudan, already one of the poorest countries in the world, has continued to sink into political and economic slump.

The value of the Sudanese pound has been divided by eight since the fall of Bashir, the country is once again banished from nations after having glimpsed the lifting of American sanctions, inflation is skyrocketing to 200% and, according to the World Food Program ( WFP), the price of the average food basket has increased by 57.8% since the beginning of the year.

In early July, General Bourhane said he pledged to give way to a civilian government, without convincing the demonstrators, who continued to shout “Down with Bourhane” by thousands. The political parties remain divided over the attitude to adopt vis-à-vis the army, which has been in command of Sudan almost always since independence.