Español
  Français

The Government and Political System in Sudan

You are here: Countries / Sudan

The government of Sudan is a federal presidential representative democratic republic currently run through a military government. Under normal conditions, it is run through the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches on the basis of the 1973 Constitution, which was suspended following a coup d’état in April 1985, replaced by an interim Constitution in June 1988 and partially suspended by the President in December 1999.

The Executive Branch is composed of the President as head of state and as head of government, and who is also head of the Cabinet and commander-in-chief of the armed forces; two Vice-Presidents; and a Council of Ministers appointed by the President.

The Legislative Branch is the unicameral National Assembly until 2005 when the new Constitution made the national legislature as bicameral to consist of the National Assembly as the Lower House or Majlis watani, consisting of 450 seats, and the Council of States as the Upper House or Majlis welayat of 50 seats. All 500 legislative members are either appointed or elected indirectly by state legislations for a term of six years.

The Judicial Branch is governed by a legal system based on English common law and the Islamic law, and is composed of the Supreme Court, the Minister of Justice, Attorney General, and Special Revolutionary Courts. Under the 2005 Naivasha Agreement which ended the civil war, the Islamic law does not apply in South Sudan, and the judiciary in the North consists of a Constitutional Court, a National Court of Appeals and other national courts under the overall management of the National Judicial Service Commission.