Sudan President Omar al-Bashir appointed a new vice president and prime minister soon after dissolving the government on Saturday, February 23.
Defense minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf was appointed the first vice president while Mohamed Tahir Ayala who is also the governor of Gezira state is the new Prime Minister, both will keep their previous posts.
Bashir declared a one-year nationwide state of emergency on Friday, dissolved the federal government, and set up a caretaker administration but retained his defense, foreign, and justice ministers. Mustafa Youssef replaced Moatazz Moussa as the new finance minister.
The appointment of Ayala as prime minister is significant because in 2017 Bashir declared that he would support Ayala in the 2020 presidential election if he decided to run.
Mohamed Tahir Ayala’s short biography
- Born in 1951
- Degree in Economics (University of Khartoum)
- Former director of the Sudan Seaports Corporation (1989)
- Former federal minister: Roads and bridges, Foreign trade and Communications.
- Governor of the Red Sea state (2005-15)
- Governor of the Gezira State (2015-present)
