President appoints southern representatives

President Omar el-Beshir has appointed 26 delegates from southern Sudan to the newly elected parliament. All 26 represent constituencies in war-torn southern Sudan where elections did not take place, the state-owned ‘al-Anbaa’ newspaper said on 5 February. The southern appointments include a prominent member of the opposition party United Democratic Salvation Front (UDSF), Joseph Malwal Dong, minister of survey and urban development. The UDSF was formed by southern rebel factions that signed a peace agreement with the government in April 1997, Reuters said. Malwal Dong was appointed to represent his Rumbek constituency in the Bahr al-Ghazal region. Most of the other southern delegates appointed were leading members of the ruling National Congress party, ‘al-Anbaa’ said.

The ruling party won a sweeping victory in December elections - which were boycotted by most political parties - with Bashir re-elected president with 86.5 percent of the vote. Civil war in southern Sudan prevented elections going ahead in many parts of the south. The ruling National Congress Party controls 90 percent of the 360 seats in parliament, AP said. 21 seats are being contested in the courts for irregularity and fraud claims.

Meanwhile, the new parliament elected ruling party member and legal adviser to the president, Ahmed Ibrahim el-Tahir, as its speaker on Monday. It also elected Angelo Beda, from southern Sudan, as deputy speaker and Abdullah Ahmed al-Hardalou as second deputy speaker, AP said.