Sudan's largest civilian political coalition splintered into two factions on Monday following disagreements over the formation of a government in areas controlled by paramilitaries at war with the army.
Taqadum, a bloc of political parties and professional unions, said in a statement that the split was triggered by "two opposing stances on the issue of forming a government".
The Sudanese army, which controls the national government and has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, has accused Taqadum's leader, former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, of cozying up to the RSF.
Taqadum said that from now on, each of its two factions would operate under a new name and a "separate political and organisational" structure.
"With this decision, each side will act in accordance with its own vision regarding the war, ways to end it, achieving comprehensive lasting peace and establishing democratic civilian rule," the statement read.
Bakry Eljack, a former Taqadum spokesman, told AFP that some groups in areas controlled by the RSF "feel abandoned without solidarity".
He said that faction opposing the formation of a government in those areas includes "most of the coalition's political parties and public figures", including Hamdok himself.
Hamdok was ousted in an October 2021 coup by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, supported at the time by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The Abu Dhabi-based former premier remains Sudan's foremost civilian politician, while most civil society inside the country has been occupied with coordinating emergency aid for those caught in the crossfire between the now-warring generals.
In January 2024, Hamdok and Daglo met in Addis Ababa and signed a joint declaration to work towards an end to the war.
Since it erupted in April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people, forced over 12 million to flee their homes, and created "the biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded" according to the International Rescue Committee.
Both the army and the RSF have been accused of war crimes, but the paramilitaries have been specifically notorious for committing ethnic cleansing and systematic sexual violence.
Attempts at mediation between the two sides, including by Saudi Arabia, the United States and the African Union, have repeatedly failed.