Government officials on Saturday reached a deal to restore the functioning of the Sudanese parliament as the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) agreed to open the way for the reinstatement of the country’s former Prime Minister, Bakri Hassan Saleh, and the military chief of staff, Gen. Omer Al-Saydood. Both men had been sacked in June after national protests that turned violent after security forces opened fire on protesters.
Saleh and Saydood had been seen as rallying forces of opposition to President Omar Hassan al-Bashir but the agreement came after months of negotiations between the NCP, Salva Kiir’s Tigrayan People’s Liberation Movement and representatives of opposition parties. The two political leaders were granted ministerial posts in the government of former president Mahdi Mohammed Ibrahim.
Saleh, a former vice president who had been viewed as a possible successor to Bashir, said he would form a new opposition alliance to try to oust the regime. Meanwhile, President Bashir, who has ruled Sudan for nearly 30 years, hailed the deal as a victory for the Sudanese people.