Hemetti Voices Support for Military Withdrawal from Sudan’s Transition

Deputy Chairman of the Sovereign Council Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemetti speaks on My 2, 2022

July 23, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The Deputy Chairman of the Sovereign Council and the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) announced his support for the withdrawal of the military component from the transitional government announced the head of the military-led body and the Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) on July 4.

Mohamed Hamdan Daglo aka “Hemetti”, on June 18, travelled to Darfur to end the intercommunal in the region between the Arab and the other groups in the region. At the time, he said he would remain there for at least 3 months until the pacification of the region as his RSF members are accused of feeding the violence.

However, on July 22, he issued a statement from Khartoum to announce his support for al-Burhan decision to render power to civilians and the formation of a high military council for security and defence affairs.

At the beginning of his statement, Hemetti underscored that they worked together to draft the 4th July decisions “through continuous consultation, team spirit and sincere intention”.

He further stressed they have no intention to hold onto a power that would lead to “spilling people’s blood” and called on the political forces to reach an agreement on the formation of a civilian government.

“We have sincerely decided to leave the government to civilians and that the regular forces should devote themselves to perform their national functions enshrined in the Constitution and the law,” he said.

After the al-Burhan announcement, there were reports that the RSF leader and the signatory armed groups were surprised by the al-Burhan decisions and were not consulted.

Also, there were rumours about differences between Hemetti and the army and that the RSF troops were moved outside the capital for the first time after the collapse of the former regime.

On the same day where he released his statement, Hemetti returned to the Darfur region to pursue his efforts to implement the Juba peace agreement.

The continuation of violence in Darfur after the signing of the peace agreement gave the impression that the deal had no impact on the ground.

Analysts say the continued insecurity and lack of stability can be explained by many factors including fears of Arab tribes to be forced to leave the lands they control under the former regime, a large portion of civilians do not consider the signatories as their legitimate representatives, and that the agreement has not been effectively implemented.

 Security arrangements

In his statement, Hemetti vowed to work with the Sudanese army to abide by the constitutional duties.

Also, he pledged to work with SAF “to reform the military and security system and to implement the Juba Agreement for the Peace in Sudan, including the security arrangements chapter in order to form a single professional army”.

In May 2021, Hemetti stated publically in a function hosted by the SLM of Minni Minnawi that his militia is established by legislation passed by the parliament and he would not accept its dissolution.

The reform of the security system and the formation of a single national army has been agreed upon in the political and constitutional declarations of August 17, 2019, and the Juba peace agreement.

The signatory groups including the National Consensus and the Sudanese Revolutionary Front welcomed Hemetti’s statement despite their initial position calling for the participation of the military component in the transitional government.

The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) said the statement confirms the reversal of the junta’s position on their participation in the transitional government.

“The statement contained a positive recognition of some of the demands of the mass movement, the most important of which is the need to hand over full power to civilians (…) and commitment to security and military reform, including a professional and national army (…),” said the FFC.