Sudan's war is in a dangerous new phase - can its new PM provide a steer for civilians?

After the trumpet horns of military victory sounded off in Sudan's capital Khartoum, the deadly buzz of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drones followed.

The war has entered a dangerous aerial phase with any illusions of normalcy shattered by multi-day drone attacks on the wartime administrative centre Port Sudan and sanctuary cities across the northeast. Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al Burhan appointed Kamil Idris, a former UN official, as prime minister of the country's military-led government on Monday.

It is the first time Sudan has installed a PM since 2021, when a coup ousted civilian leadership and established a caretaker government. But it's unclear how much power Idris will have as the army fights its devastating battle against the paramilitary RSF.

Will the appointment of the international diplomat as prime minister provide a steer for civilians in the growing chaos or entrench the military state on shifting sand? In February, the RSF held a conference in Nairobi, Kenya, announcing a parallel government as their loss of Khartoum was imminent. Now, the army is presenting its own counterweight to their opponent's growing aerial advantage.

The current cabinet in Port Sudan will be dissolved and the new prime minister will have full powers to appoint ministers and run a transitional government. For the last two years of war, army chief Burhan has addressed the country as de facto president.

As millions suffer from spreading armed conflict and starvation, he wore fatigues and spoke of military might. Sudanese people have increasingly supported the army they protested against in the 2019 revolution out of sheer necessity.

The only form of protection against the mass killing and sexual violence of the RSF. The two warring parties were security partners for two decades before they finally turned against one another.

Read more:What does Sudan execution video tell us?Sudan's history faces erasure once again Burhan and the head of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo, teamed up in a joint coup in October 2021 to derail a transition to civilian governance after the revolution. Civilian authority has never been respected or honoured by either side.

So can the same military elite who refused to hand over to the people after a popular uprising be trusted to give a civilian prime minister any authority in a state of martial law?.