Sudanese president declares emergency, dissolves the parliament

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Monday announced the dissolution of the National Council (parliament) and the imposition of a state of emergency for three months. Al-Bashir said, "Making the new parliamentary elections is a measure to be defined later by the national commission for elections."

Sudanese Information Minister Ghazi Salah Al-Din announced that solving the parliament and imposing the state of emergency are two political measures in compliance with the constitution.

Al-Din added that the real matter is not a coup attempt, "It is a mere political measure taken by the president to avoid the impending threats." But he did not reveal the nature of such threats.

Al-Din indicated that these measures were only an attempt to settle the current political conflict, which has almost frozen the country and done harm to its legality, adding that these measures do not obstruct the current political developments or the efforts aimed at achieving reconciliation with the opposition.

Meanwhile, Sudanese television said that President al-Bashir has assigned Sudanese Minister of Justice Ali Muhammad Othman Yassin to coordinate with the political forces inside the country in order to amend the political alliance law stated in the Sudanese constitution.