Sudan gears up for consultations on establishing new gov't

A Sudanese official announced on Wednesday that consultations related to the establishment of the new government have been finalized and are expected to be formally announced by next week.

"Consultations related to the establishment of the national consensus government are complete, and we expect it to be announced next week," Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, Sudanese presidential assistant, said during a press conference on Wednesday.

He explained that the forthcoming government does not include the National Assembly's chairmanship (parliament) nor the states' governors, noting that the current numbers of federal ministries will remain as they are at 31 ministries.

He attributed the delay in announcing the new government to intending to involve all political factions and armed movements who participated in the national dialogue conference which concluded its sessions in October 2016.

Last year participants in Sudan's national dialogue conference approved the national document following a year of deliberations.

The dialogue's final document, covering ruling principles, public freedoms, identity issues, peace matters, unity, the economy and foreign relations, will serve as the foundation of the country's permanent constitution.

However, major political parties and armed movements refused to participate in the conference, including the Revolutionary Front Alliance, which assembles the SPLM/northern sector and major Darfur armed movements. Endit