OMAR BASHIR STEPS DOWN AS HEAD OF SUNDAN’S RULING PARTY

Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir has on Friday delegated his powers and authority as head of the ruling National Congress Party to its deputy head, Ahmed Mohamed Haroun, until the party’s next general conference.

Haroun is wanted man by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes committed in Darfur. He was elected by the National Congress Party as its deputy head this week.

The main call by unrelenting protesters has been for Bahir to resign as president. The protest that began in December is now four months old on Friday, 1st of March.

Bashir has stressed that he was not going to allow the chants of stepping down get to him except that he will leave after elections are held. Next election is slated for 2020.

The party had before the protests broke out put forward legislation meant to abolish term limits, set at two, to allow Bashir contest when next polls are held.

At the announcement of a state of emergency late last week, he ordered the plans for term extension to be shelved, dissolved the government and in the days that followed made a raft of political, military appointments.

They have, however, done little to quell the protester demands. Even a ban on protests issued early this week has flagrantly been challenged as people continue to hold mass rallies.