Sons of Sudan’s opposition leaders appointed as Bashir’s aides
November 29, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s President Omer Hassan al-Bashir on Tuesday appointed a cohort of presidential advisers and aides, including the offsprings of two prominent opposition leaders.
Whereas the NUP of former Prime Minister Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi refused to participate and vowed the adopt “civil disobedience as a mean to oppose the goverment, the DUP led by Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani finally agreed to join amid strong internal resistance by factions opposed to rapprochement with the NCP.
Sudan’s long-awaited new government will be the first since the country split in two following the secession of South Sudan in July.
The new cabinet, which is expected to be announced once the NCP concludes its third national convention next week, comes amid a charged climate in the domestic political arena due to worsening economic conditions resulting from the loss of revenues generated by oil produced in South Sudan.
DUP members are expected to occupy one third of portfolios in the new cabinet, which is the first since Sudan split in two after South Sudan gained independence in July.
Al-Bashir today named Jaffar Al-Sadiq Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani, son of the DUP leader, and Abdel-Rahman al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, son of the NUP’s leader, as presidential assistants.
News that al-Mahdi’s son will be given a position in the new government already leaked to the press few weeks ago and was later confirmed by Sadiq al-Mahdi himself who contended that his son is participating in his capacity as an individual not a representative of the NUP.
Another newcomer to the circle of presidential assistants is Jalal Youssef al-Digair, the leader of a splinter DUP faction aligned with the NCP and who served in the previous government as a minister of international cooperation. Meanwhile, the NCP’s deputy chairman Nafie Ali Nafie and Moussa Mohamed Ahmed, leader of the former rebels in eastern Sudan, were re-appointed as presidential assistants.
With these appointments, the number of presidential assistants has risen from three to five.
In contrast, the appointments of presidential advisers were devoid of new names except Mohamed al-Hassan Mohamed who is a close associate of the DUP’s leader Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani. Other well-known presidential advisers such as Ghazi Salah Al-Deen and Ibrahim Ahmed Omer were re-appointed to their positions.
Turabi raps DUP as its rifts grow
The DUP’s decision to participate in the government has continued to generate rifts and invite criticism.
The London-based newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted DUP sources as saying that a number of the party figures, including some of those who favored participation in the new government, declined to accept positions, citing dissatisfaction with what they saw as an imbalance between their party’s stature and its share in the government.
The sources further revealed that those who were offered positions and rejected them included Hatim al-Sir, the DUP’s spokesman and former presidential candidate in the 2010 elections, and the well-known businessman Taha Ali Al-Bashir.
Bukhari Abdallah Al-Ja’li, the member of the DUP’s high committee and who participated in negotiations with the NCP, had tendered his resignation to Al-Mirghani in protest of the party’s decision to participate in the government.
Meanwhile, the DUP’s decision to join the government has been lambasted by the prominent opposition figure Hassan Al-Turabi.
Al-Turabi said that the DUP’s ministers in the new cabinet would gain nothing but their positions’ perks because the NCP is in control of decision-making.
The veteran Islamist went on to criticize the DUP’s leader al-Mirghani, saying the latter had reneged on promise he made to him in Cairo few months ago that his party will not participate in the government.
Al-Turabi further suggested that Mirghani was subjected to severe pressure, noting that the DUP-affiliated religious sect of al-Khattmiya which al-Mirghani heads has always been known for its disinclination to oppose rulers.
(ST)