Power struggle to continue

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on Monday forecast that the Bashir-Turabi power struggle would continue for the foreseeable future, and that despite Bashir’s “coup” having placed him in the ascendancy, he had been unable to translate this into outright dominance. With the rebels’ threat on the wane, “the challenges that have helped to hold together the uncomfortable alliance within the elite are beginning to recede”, it said. Both Bashir and Turabi were trying to position themselves to head whatever political system would emerge to succeed the old authoritarian, wartime regime. “This would suggest that the crisis played out in December could be only the first round of a more serious political conflict that is potentially destabilising, especially if fuelled by foreign interference,” the EIU added.