Salva Kiir and Ali Osman appointed deputies of Sudan’s President

May 28, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir has appointed Salva Kiir Maydrit and Ali Osman Taha respectively as First Vice President and Vice President of the republic, the official SUNA reported today.

Elected with 68 percent of the votes, Bashir sworn-in for a new five-year term on Thursday in a ceremony attended by some African leaders. This is his first election in multi-party polls. In 2005, he continued to preside over the country in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The two deputies will take oath before the President on Saturday.

Kiir appointment was expected as he is elected President of the Southern Sudan Government and in accordance with the interim constitution the president of the semi-autonomous region is the First Vice-President of the Sudan.

However there were many rumors and speculations about the fate of Mr. Taha who lost much of his influence in the country since the signing of the CPA which he had negotiated with the late John Garang, former leader of the SPLM.

Some reports said the Presidential Assistant, Nafie Ali Nafie, would be promoted as vice-president taking in account the influence he has in the management of the Sudanese affairs.

Nafie and some other leading figures in the ruing National Congress Party were opposed to the concessions Taha had made during the IGAD sponsored peace talks with the former rebel SPLM.

During the five-year interim period they were blamed for impeding the implementation of the peace agreement; particularly after the sudden death of John Garang in July 2005.

The marginalization of Taha also paved the way for another speculation related to the appointment of a Darfurian as second Vice-President replacing Taha.

Darfur rebels inspired by the CPA, since Abuja peace talks in 2005, demand to name a vice-president from their region.

The recent emergence of a former governor as leader of a new rebel group led to believe among the other rebel movements he would be appointed as vice-president. Rumors say the Libya supported rebel leader already negotiated the position with Khartoum.

Before the formation of national unity government in august 2005, Taha had been the First Vice-President, a position that he had occupied since 1998.

During the last five years Taha dedicated his time to the implementation of the CPA and worked with the SPLM leadership to resolve the different crisis the two partners encountered.

Yesterday SPLM leading figure Deng Alor said that Taha who handles the organization of the southern Sudan referendum on self determination, is expected to reside during the upcoming period in Juba.

(ST)