Sudan constitution panel endorses new 30-member government

KHARTOUM, June 7, 2005 (KUNA) — The commission on drafting a provisional constitution endorsed on Tuesday the formation of a new government made up of 30 ministers, a spokesman for the commission al-Dardiri Ahmad said at a press conference here.

Sudan’s First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha (L) and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement leader John Garang show the signed peace accord at a ceremony in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, January 9, 2005. (Reuetrs).

The commission decided that president of the republic was to be head of state, president of the cabinet, and commander of the armed forces, said Ahmad.

A first vice-president has been given the post of governor of southern Sudan and military commander of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

The commission had started on drafting a provisional constitution last May 3rd, and is supposed to fully complete its work within six weeks after which a coalition government would be formed according to peace terms in an agreement signed last January by the government and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The SPLM will have a 28-percent presence in the coalition, while the National Congress party, currently ruling, will have 52 percent.

Other parties in the north will have 16 percent representation and those in the south six percent.

According to the terms of the agreement the coalition government will rule the nation during the first half of a six-year transitional period at the end of which a referendum will decide the fate of the inhabitants of the south.