Sudan cabinet reshuffle excludes state governors, presidential aide
December 8, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The deputy chairman of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and presidential assistant, Ibrahim Ghandour, has said that cabinet reshuffle does not include states governors and stressed that the new government wasn’t formed randomly.
Ghandour said that recent changes in the executive branch were based on specific criteria including abilities and experiences of the ministers and weren’t carried out blindly.
He pointed that president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir asked the NCP leadership office to make nominations for all executive positions, stressing that he made his choices among 120 nominees.
The presidential aide further added that Bashir had consulted with a committee formed by the party’s leadership office before announcing the new government formation, stressing that the whole process was made through consultations among the NCP leaders.
Meanwile, the former speaker of the parliament, Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir, said that reform within the NCP would continue through members, programs, and performance, calling upon party members to adhere to its rules.
He demanded the Sudanese political forces to agree on criteria for practicing freedoms, saying that lifting restrictions on freedoms is conditional upon arriving at an agreement on that criteria.
Al-Tahir said that the NCP has already developed its view on the elections law and waiting for the other political forces, calling for accepting the other and focusing on the issues not the persons.
The former speaker of the national parliament was alluding to the sacking of the former NCP leading figure, Ghazi Salah Al-Deen Al-Attabani from the party.
“Ghazi is a human being who makes mistakes and we don’t worship Allah (God) through persons but through obedience and behaviours”, he said.
More than 30 of the NCP top members, including the former parliamentary caucus head, Al-Attabani, presented a memo to president Bashir in September, criticising the government’s decision to remove subsidies on fuel and other basic commodities, saying it “harshly” impacted on Sudanese citizens.
Bashir formed a committee headed by Al-Tahir to investigate signatories to the petition, which was circulated publicly.
The commission of inquiry recommended dismissing three members, including Attabani, and temporarily suspending nine others. The decision was endorsed by the NCP leadership council and the Shura (consultative) council.
Al-Tahir stressed that loyalty, obedience, and discipline are the criteria for evaluation within the NCP, calling upon party members to adhere to the rules and regulations.
(ST)