The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir issued a decree on Tuesday night dissolving the government and relieving his aides in preparation for the formation of the new cabinet following the beginning of his new term today.
- Ibrahim Ghandour, top aide to Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir and head of Sudan’s negotiating team with the SPLM-N (Photo: AFP/Ashraf Shazly)
The decree did not mandate undersecretaries to run the ministries in the interim which suggested that the announcement of the new cabinet is imminent.
Earlier today, presidential assistant Ibrahim Ghandour who also holds the position of ruling National Congress Party (NCP) deputy chairman said that the new cabinet will be announced in the next 48 hours.
Ghandour said that there will be no presidential advisers and a maximum of 5 presidential assistants.
He also downplayed announcements by several parties that they will not join the new cabinet saying that “not all parties should be part of the government”.
President Bashir has said earlier this year that only parties which contested in April’s general elections will be offered posts in the government.
The Federal Truth party (FTP) has been excluded from the new cabinet while the United Umma Party (UUP) rejected the NCP offer for ministerial posts on the grounds that it is not compatible with their political stature.
Last week, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) led by Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani announced that it will not join the government for the same reasons spelled out by the UUP.
But the NCP swiftly denied the DUP declaration stressing that consultations between the two sides are ongoing.
It is understood that the NCP offered the DUP the same posts it currently holds in the cabinet which includes three federal ministries, two state ministers and other posts on the state level.
The NCP said it will look into the DUP’s request for an additional post without committing to it which aggravated al-Hassan al-Mirghani who is currently running the party as his father is still out of the country.
The DUP was considered the second largest northern opposition party until December 2011 when it left opposition ranks and joined the joined the NCP-dominated “broad-based” government.
