Sudan’s appointed presidential assistant says absent from oath for compelling family reasons

June 9, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The newly appointed 1st presidential assistant Mohamed al-Hassan al-Mirghani attributed his absence from taking the oath of office before President Omer Hassan al-Bashir on Sunday to unspecified family reasons that forced him to be present in the city of Sinkat in eastern Sudan.

Al-Mirghani told the government sponsored Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) on Tuesday that he received the news of his appointment from president Bashir “personally” and denied speculations that his absence was linked to his unhappiness about the share of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the new cabinet formation.

A few weeks ago, a senior DUP official said that they opted out of the government as they could not get the ruling party to offer them more posts commensurate with their historical weight among Sudanese political parties.

But al-Mirghani swiftly distanced himself from these statements.

The DUP was granted three federal ministries and two ministers of state as well as presidential assistant post given to al-Mirghani.

Al-Mirghani also dismissed the opposition coalition of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) saying there is nothing left from them “but the name”.

He emphasized that no opposition operating outside can succeed and criticized tours by some opposition figures abroad describing them as “desperate attempts”.

(ST)