Khartoum: Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied groups signed a transitional constitution on Tuesday, advancing their plans to establish a parallel government amid the ongoing two-year war with the Sudanese army. The move raises concerns about the country’s potential fragmentation as the conflict deepens.
The RSF, which has recently suffered setbacks in the conflict, continues to face pressure amid widespread displacement, severe hunger, and reports of ethnically motivated killings and sexual violence.
As clashes persist, the RSF launched a long-range drone attack on power infrastructure on Tuesday, targeting Sudan’s largest power generation station at the Merowe Dam, according to an army statement. The attack resulted in large-scale power outages across northern Sudan. Meanwhile, the army claimed gains in the Sharg el-Nil area as it sought to encircle RSF forces in the capital, Khartoum.
The newly signed RSF-led constitution aims to replace the framework established after the 2019 overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir by the army and RSF. In 2021, both military factions staged a coup that disrupted Sudan’s transition to civilian rule, and by April 2023, a new attempt at political transition triggered full-scale warfare between the two sides.
In late February, the RSF and its allies announced their intention to form a government for a so-called “New Sudan,” seeking to undermine the legitimacy of the army-led administration and facilitate advanced arms procurement. The transitional constitution now formalizes this plan, outlining a vision for a federal, secular state divided into eight regions.
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The document includes a bill of basic rights and grants regions the right to self-determination if specific conditions—chief among them the separation of religion and state—are not met. It also calls for the formation of a unified national army, with the signatories serving as its foundation. While elections are mentioned as a goal of the transitional period, no clear timeline has been set.
Among the signatories is the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a powerful secular group that controls large territories in South Kordofan, along with other smaller factions. The RSF and its allies have stated that the government will be formed in the coming weeks, though details on its leadership and operational base remain uncertain.
