Sudan’s dialogue conference opts for transitional government
January 28, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The National Dialogue Conference Thursday agreed to form a transitional government chaired by the President Omer al-Bashir despite the initial opposition of the ruling party for such principle.
The ruling National Congress Party was initially opposed to such idea, fearing that it would open the door for the opposition to demand the appointment of an interim president or a collegial presidency.
Hawati further said the national and local levels of government were unanimously approved by the governance committee. But the regional or state levels have to decided by a panel of conciliators.
Several officials in the national government recently warned against the regional system and indicated their preference for the current system that divides the country into 18 states.
In line with the Darfur document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), Darfurians will vote next April to decide whether they want to keep the five separate states or to reunite Darfur as one region.
In a related development, the Identity Committee announced that its members have agreed to recommend the establishment of a national commission for the identity in Sudan, indicating that it will deliver its recommendations early next week to the general secretariat for the National dialogue.
The National Dialogue Conference, which is held since October 10, 2015, is expected to wrap up its meetings soon.
On 27 December, the Sudanese presidential assistant and deputy chairman of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid told reporters the government had decided the extension of the conference indefinitely, in anticipation of the participation of the holdout groups. But two days later it was clarified that the extension was only for one month.
(ST)