The national parliament chose yesterday its speaker in the first session since the April elections.
Ahmed Ibrahim al-Tahir, from the National Congress Party, was elected by 383 votes against 26 for his rival, Islamist Popular Congress Party candidate Ismail Hussein Fade.Ten members of the 450-seat parliament did not attend yesterday’s session.
Mr. Tahir focused his inaugural speech on a January 2011 referendum on the autonomy of southern Sudan and the Darfur conflict.
He said the assembly’s first task is to call upon southerners to preserve the unity of Sudan because that is what serves their interests.
Mr. Tahir lamented that separation will only bring division and war.
The new assembly is dominated by the NCP, which holds 300 seats. The SPLM elected 99 MPs.