Umma Party condemns re-nomination of Al Bashir

More opposition parties voice their disapproval of the re-nomination of incumbent president Omar Al Bashir, who is not allowed to run for a third presidential term in 2020 under the current constitution.

The National Umma Party (NUP) condemned the decision of the National Shura Council of the National Congress Party (NCP) meeting in Khartoum on Thursday, to re-nominate President Al Bashir for the presidential election of 2020.

NUP leader Imam El Sadig El Mahdi said that “his re-nomination came without an objective evaluation of his performance in the past 30 years, or with regard to the constitutional impediment. Nor taking into account the harm suffered by Sudan under the presidency of his international criminal warrant.”

El Mahdi condemned the decision and that his party will rally to bring about national and international condemnation against Omar Al Bashir. The Sudanese Congress Party has also condemned the re-nomination of the president.

Al Bashir’s nomination for a third term follows amendments made by the NCP to its own constitution, but will now require amendments to the constitution of Sudan, as it limits any individual to two terms as president, to be passed by parliament.

Other amendments the ruling party made include an increase of the percentage of women’s participation in NCP organs from 25 per cent to 30 per cent.

Intention to step down

Al Bashir has been in power since 1989 after a military coup on an elected government.

“In 2020, there will be a new president and I will be an ex-president, God willing,” he told the BBC in an interview in April 2016. His statements then repeated his declared intention to step down in 2015. But his NCP insisted he continued in office, which he did after the elections that resulted in the favour of the ruling party.