Sudan votes to reinstate position of PM

Sudanese lawmakers yesterday voted to restore the post of prime minister which was abolished after President Omar Al-Bashir came to power in a 1989 coup.

The move to delegate limited powers to a prime minister once again is part of further reforms proposed by a national dialogue council between Bashir’s government and a number of opposition groups.

The abolishment of the post was one of Al-Bashir’s first moves after he succeeded in a bloodless coup against Sadiq Al-Mahdi with the help of Mahdi’s brother-in-law, Hassan Al-Turabi. This was an effort to suppress any opposition.

In October, Bashir concluded a yearlong dialogue which was aimed at resolving the insurgencies in Sudan’s border regions and healing the country’s dwindling economy which has been damaged by years of civil unrest.

The president submitted a “national document” to serve as a framework for a new constitution. The constitution led to yesterday’s amendment, which was approved by 387 out of a total of 425 members of parliament present.

Though it gives the prime minister responsibility for “executive power in the country”, the president will still have the power to sack the current government and form a new government.

Sudan is still run on a transitional constitution which was first adopted in 2005 prior to the country’s split into North and South Sudan in 2011 following two decades of civil war.