Sudan: Political upheaval regarded as coup

Sudan's ruling Popular Congress Party (PCP) on Thursday morning began extensive modifications in its political structure, under which the appointment of new ministers and the exemption of others took place. The move was described by a party official as an “internal coup”. In a meeting headed by President Omar Al-Bashir, fundamental changes were implemented on party leaders, and the development of new secretariats were executed. Dr. Nafie Ali Nafie, who was exempted from the command of the organisations' sector but retained his position as the party’s Vice President, said the changes kept pace with the requirements of the current stage. In a statement after the meeting, Nafie said: “These changes aim at moving and renewing leaders within the framework of exchange of tasks and roles.” He expected that changes would not be limited to the decisions taking in the meeting, but will include amendments in positions of the party’s leaders. Among the most prominent decisions was the appointment of the Party Vice President Dr. Al Haj Adam as the Official of the political sector; succeeding Dr. Kutbi Al-Mahdi, who was rated by some as “one of the callers for reforms”. The changes also appointed Hamed Fadallah as head of the organisational sector. In addition, the secretariat of intellect was given to the Minister of the State in the republican Presidency, while the Economic Secretariat was assigned to Dr. Saber Mohamed Al-Hassan, the former governor of the Central Bank. A source in the party described the amendments as  an “internal coup”, claiming “they have emphasised the domination of Al-Bashir on the ruling party.” The source stated a number of difficulties facing the party, among which was the loss of the petrol public treasury after the separation of the south from north Sudan in addition to the sharp rise in the US dollar demonstrated the inability of the economic authorities. The source explained that there were other problems facing the party like the increase of tension in relations with South Sudan, the situation in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan, the calls for dealing with corruption, and criticism the party's hesitation and indecisiveness against apprehending suspects.