Sudan national unity cabinet sworn in
Sept 22, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s national unity cabinet was sworn in Thursday at a ceremony attended by President Omar al-Beshir, eight months after a peace deal that ended Africa’s longest-running conflict.
The government, which includes one-time foes from Beshir’s northern regime and southern rebel groups, took the oath before officially being handed over power from the outgoing cabinet.
The establishment of a national unity government is a major step in the implementation of a January peace agreement that ended 21 years of civil war between north and south in Africa’s largest country.
Twenty-six ministers took the oath on Thursday. Two had already been sworn in on Wednesday and two ministries destined for the northern opposition National Democratic Alliance have yet to be filled.
The government was formed in line with quotas provided by the January 9 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which grants the Beshir’s National Congress Party a 52 percent share of power.
According to the same power-sharing agreement, the former southern rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) of First Vice President Salva Kiir has 28 percent, the northern opposition 14 percent and the southern opposition six percent.
The interim government will remain in place until legislative elections in around four years. A six-year post-war interim rule started in July, at the end of which the south will hold a referendum on self-determination.
The formation of the unwieldy cabinet was delayed by bitter wrangling over the oil and finance portfolios and the July 30 death in a helicopter crash of historical southern leader John Garang, who was seen as the guarantor of the peace deal.
US President George W. Bush hailed the formation of the government and urged Sudan’s leaders to work towards unity.
“All Sudanese can be proud of this significant progress, because it demonstrates the parties continued commitment to a common vision of a unified, democratic, prosperous, and peaceful Sudan,” said a statement.