Sudanese President Appoints Vice President and New PM

Khartoum, MINA – Sudanese President Omar Hasan al-Bashir on Saturday appointed First Vice President and new Prime Minister.

Defense Minister Awad Ibn Oaf was appointed as the first vice president and former Al-Gazeera state Governor Mohamed Tahir Aila was appointed as the new prime minister. Anadolu Agency reported.

Earlier, on Friday President Bashir announced a year of national emergency and formed a temporary government.

Bashir also replaced all state governors with senior military officials.

He also called on the Sudanese parliament to postpone the constitutional amendments that would allow him to run for a further term in the presidential election in 2020.

“I announce that national dialogue will continue and ask the parliament to postpone the constitutional amendments,” he said.

Sudan was rocked by mass protests over the past two months, with demonstrators condemning the failure of al-Bashir to improve the country’s economic crisis.

Sudanese officials say around 31 people have been killed since protests began in December, although the opposition estimates the number closed to 50.

As a country with 40 million people, Sudan has struggled to recover from losing three quarters of its oil production since South Sudan split in 2011. (T/Sj/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)