Sudan’s NCP won’t rule out nominating 1st VP for presidency
February 9, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has not ruled out nominating the first vice president, Bakri Hassan Salih, for presidency in the 2015 elections.
He told reporters on Sunday following a meeting of the NCP deputy chairman, Ibrahim Ghandour with the states governors that Bakri currently holds political post besides being a member of the NCP’s leading office and stressed there is no legal restriction on his candidacy, pointing it is too early to speak in this regard.
In a separate issue, Bilal said the NCP seeks to renew its leadership and asserted it abounds with qualified people, pointing that NCP approved a statute restricting tenure of a member in the same position to two terms.
He reiterated that the issue of re-nominating president, Omer Hassan Al-Bashir in the upcoming elections is the responsibility of NCP’s institutions.
“The NCP is full of qualified political members who hold higher degrees and so we expect major changes extending from the party’s base to its top leadership”, he added
Bilal pointed that NCP statute restricts person’s tenure to two terms, affirming that NCP presidential candidate will be selected in the party convention which will be held next October.
Bashir has been ruling Sudan since taking power in an Islamist-backed military coup in 1989.
In 2009 he became the first sitting head of state to be served with an arrest warrant from the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the Darfur conflict, which according to the UN, led to the death of 300,000 people and displacement of 2.7 million in 2003-2004.
He had previously made public his intention to step down at the end of his term in 2015, but several NCP officials said that Bashir would be re-nominated for a new term.
The NCP dismissed the head of its parliamentary bloc and former presidential advisor, Ghazi Salah Al-Deen Al-Attabani for saying that the 2005 constitution states that the president can only stay for a maximum of two terms.
He also underscored that stability of the regime is contingent upon adhering to the law of the land.
(ST)