Burhan and his allies have thus welcomed the UNITAMS initiative, as they see in it an opportunity to weaken the FFC at the negotiation table and to drive a wedge between it and the Resistance Committees.
The FFC is already deeply divided between those parties that participated in Hamdok’s government, and have been demanding complete civilian rule, and those that hope to secure a role for themselves in the transition with Burhan, in some cases because they have a narrow constituency which they realize would put them at a disadvantage in elections currently scheduled for 2023, should they occur.
These divisions have made it difficult for the FFC to win the support of the Resistance Committees, and a mandate to reorient the dialogues and pressure Burhan and his allies to hand over power to complete civilian rule. The lack of unity among the civilians also plays into the military’s interest in showing the United States and the international community that the FFC is not a representative organisation for the Sudanese people.
While Washington and the other “Friends of Sudan” continue to call for a civilian-led government in advance of elections, the divisions within the FFC may have to encouraged Western policy-makers to consider a renewed civil-military partnership as the most realistic path for any transition.
