Exiled opposition politician Khalid Omar attacks campaign promoting Burhan for president

KHARTOUM — Exiled Sudanese opposition politician Khalid Omar Youssef on Friday attacked a campaign promoting army chief Abdelfattah al-Burhan for president, saying it showed that the country’s devastating war was ultimately a struggle for power.

Omar, a former cabinet affairs minister and deputy president of the Sudanese Congress Party, made the remarks after a poster circulated on social media bearing a photograph of Burhan and the slogan, “We want Burhan as president,” describing the call as “a popular demand.”

There was no indication that Burhan himself produced, launched or endorsed the campaign.

“With the launch of a campaign to nominate Burhan for president of the republic, we have reached the final scene of the film very quickly,” Omar wrote on his social media Facebook page. “Here is a clear answer to the question: Whose war is this, and why?”

Omar accused Burhan of pursuing political power at enormous cost to Sudan and pointed to the army chief’s role in the October 2021 military takeover that ended the civilian-led transition established after the overthrow of longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir.

“The general is hastening his steps toward achieving his dream, which has cost the country and its people dearly,” Omar said.

He accused Burhan of betraying the 2019 revolution that brought millions of Sudanese onto the streets and ultimately ended Bashir’s nearly three decades in power.

Burhan led the October 2021 takeover alongside Rapid Support Forces militia commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti. The two later fell out amid disputes over the political transition and the integration of the RSF militia into the regular army, culminating in war between their forces in April 2023.

The conflict has devastated large parts of Sudan, killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions inside and outside the country.

Omar said Burhan’s years at the head of Sudan’s military-led authorities had coincided with war, economic collapse, mass displacement and threats to the country’s unity and sovereignty.

“He should ask his predecessor, Bashir: Where did this path ultimately lead him?” Omar said.

Omar has lived in exile since leaving Sudan amid the war. He is deputy president of the Sudanese Congress Party and one of the prominent civilian politicians opposed to the conflict and to continued military rule.

He and several other civilian opposition figures have faced criminal accusations from authorities aligned with the army, which have accused anti-war politicians of supporting or providing political cover for the RSF.

The politicians have denied backing the paramilitary group and say the accusations are intended to silence opponents of the war.

Burhan has also publicly attacked some of the exiled civilian politicians and said they would not be allowed to return to Sudan.

Omar served as cabinet affairs minister in the civilian-military transitional government established after Bashir’s overthrow and remained a prominent figure in the civilian political movement following the 2021 coup.

In his statement on Friday, Omar rejected the army and its supporters’ description of the conflict as a “war of dignity,” saying the appearance of a campaign promoting Burhan for president reinforced his view that the conflict was about political power.

“This is another wake-up call for everyone who naively believed that this was a war of dignity or sovereignty,” he said. “It is a disgraceful war for power.”

Omar described the conflict as a “counter-revolution against the Sudanese people’s dream of freedom, peace and justice” and called for its rejection.

Burhan has not publicly declared that he intends to run for president, and the appearance of posters promoting him does not amount to an official candidacy. Sudan has not held a presidential election since Bashir was removed from power in April 2019.