Sudan's Ncp Nominates Bashir For 3Rd Term As President

Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has nominated incumbent President Omar al-Bashir as its candidate for presidential polls due next April, the state-run SUNA news agency has reported.



According to the agency, the party's shura council elected al-Bashir as the NCP's candidate in the upcoming elections.



NCP deputy leader Ibrahim Ghandour was "ed by the agency as saying that party chief al-Bashir had won the votes of 266 out of 396 shura council members.



Hailing the vote as "democratic and transparent," Ghandour said the win would propel al-Bashir to another term as party leader and allow him to run in the next presidential elections.



Ghandour himself had been one of al-Bashir's competitors for the nomination, along with al-Bashir's first deputy, Bakri Hassan Saleh, and former deputy, Nafei Ali Nafei.



Al-Bashir came to power in 1989 through an Islamist-backed military coup that overthrew Sadiq al-Mahdi's elected government.



Under his rule, the country was broken in two after South Sudan broke away from its northern neighbor to become independent in 2011, ending a lengthy civil war that began 1983.



Sudan has also been plagued by rifts and conflict between the army and various rebel movements – especially in the country's restive southern and western regions – along with a deteriorating economy.



Last year, what had initially appeared to be a popular uprising against the long-serving al-Bashir in some parts of the country was swiftly put down by security forces.



By Mohamed al-Khatem



englishnews@.aa.com.tr



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