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Sudan
Parliamentary Government
The RCC-NS dissolved the elected legislature when it seized power
in 1989. As of mid-1991 no plans had been announced for new elections
or for the creation of a new representative body. Nevertheless,
Sudan's postindependence political history, characterized by alternating
periods of parliamentary democracy and military rule, suggested
that there was support for a popularly elected assembly. The country's
first parliament, the Legislative Assembly, was established during
the final years of British colonial rule, and the country's first
multiparty elections were held in 1948. Subsequently, the Constituent
Assembly drew up a transitional constitution that provided for
a two-chamber legislature: an indirectly elected upper house,
called the Senate, and a House of Representatives elected by direct
popular vote. The British model of government was followed, that
is, a parliamentary system in which the political party winning
the most seats in the lower house formed the government. Multiparty
elections for the House of Representatives were held in 1953 and
1958. The second parliament was in session only a few months before
being forcibly dissolved by a military coup. Parliamentary government
was restored briefly between 1964 and 1969, during which time
there were two multiparty elections for the House of Representatives.
Following the precedent set by the 1958 military coup, Nimeiri
dissolved parliament and banned political parties when he seized
power in May 1969. Five years later, in 1974, he permitted controlled
elections for a new People's Assembly. In this and subsequent
balloting, candidates had to be approved by the government, and
persons with known or suspected ties to the banned political parties
were barred from participation. The People's Assembly never functioned
as an institution independent of the executive and was dissolved
after Nimeiri's overthrow in April 1985. The first genuinely democratic
parliamentary elections since 1968 were held in April 1986, but
no political party won a majority of seats. During the next three
years, six successive coalition governments were formed. The assembly
was dissolved and political parties again banned following the
June 30, 1989, military coup.
Data as of June 1991
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