July 23, 2020 (KHARTOUM) - The National Umma Party (NUP) headed by Sadiq al-Mahdi on Thursday rejected the appointment of six of its members as state governors and urged them to decline the posts.

"We refused to participate in the states’ governments for violating the agreed principles, their lack of viability and public acceptance, as it became clear after the spread of leaks since yesterday night," said NUP deputy leader, Siddig Mohamed Ismail, in a press conference on Thursday.

Ismail further urged the party’s members who were appointed to align themselves with the position of the party "that put first the national interest over partisan and personal one"

The NUP requested to be given nine states; North Darfur South Darfur, West Darfur, North Kordofan, West Kordofan, White Nile, Sennar, Al-Jazirah, and Northern states, pointing it was the largest party based on the results of 1986 democratic elections.

However, Hamdok gave them 6 of 18 states, as he intended to satisfy the other political forces of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) that participated actively in the revolution.

The NUP leadership has been frustrated by the representation of small left parties in the FFC structures pointing they have the same number of the vote as their large party. Several months ago they have frozen their participation in the FFC leadership body calling to reform it.

Hamdok faced the same dilemma in the designation of state governors as the NUP pointed to its electoral results of 1986 and the other underline their revolutionary legitimacy.

The NUP leader Sadiq al-Mahdi will address the party members in Friday sermon he will deliver from their famous Wad Nubawi Mosque in Omdurman.

He is expected to define the NUP’s position from the transitional government. Previously, he said he would request anticipated elections before the end of the three-year transitional period.

Al-Mahdi recently slammed the removal of the former finance minister who is a member of his party, fearing that Hamdok retracts from the IMF backed reform that Ibrahim al-Badawi established. However, the government says no change will be done.

Also, people in four states showed their rejection of the new governors, namely North Kordofan, Kassala, East and South Darfur.

Some said that the new governors were linked to the former regime, or were not among the nominees of local committees that back the revolution.

In Kassala, the discontent also came from the traditional leader of Hadendowa, a branch of the Beja tribe as they staged a protest in the eastern Sudan town.

Hadendowa leader Sayed Mohamed Turk issued a statement rejecting the new governor and said they will continue the escalation until Khartoum reverses its decision.

(ST)