The Sudan Handbook

176 thE sudan handbook

Islamic-oriented constituencies to cultivate their support, and thereby

broaden the popular base of the regime at the expense of the opposi-

tion parties. The Congresses’ System was also designed to penetrate

other traditional platforms such as tribal structures of the former Native

Administration, and Sufi religious orders.

Despite this strategy the formula of the Congresses’ System was

abandoned in the mid-1990s, in favour of an ordinary political party,

the NCP. The most obvious explanation is that the Congresses’ System

formula did not work, and was not taken seriously even by the regime’s

decision makers, let alone the public at large. On the other hand, both

domestic political evolution of the regime and the pressure of interna-

tional isolation seemed to have prompted the leadership to consider the

adoption of limited pluralism in Sudan’s political system. This choice was

subsequently formalized in the 1998 constitution that adopted al-tawali

al-siyasi. Accordingly, the establishment of the NCP came in anticipation

of ‘political pluralism’ in which the NCP would be expected to compete

with other political forces in the country. Nonetheless, though the regime

seemed to have abandoned its populist idea of direct participation and

grassroots democracy, it had not given up on its plan of establishing

hegemonic control over the political process in the country. Under the

1998 constitution, the regime sought to co-opt other political groups or

breakaway factions from opposition parties, while maintaining a tight

grip on power and the political process.

At the administrative level, al-Bashir’s regime introduced a federal

structure for the administration of the country. This measure seemingly

came in response to a recommendation of the conference of ‘National

Dialogue’ held in September 1989 on the prospects of peace in the

country. The Islamist movement had already favoured a federal system,

as was clear in the National Charter document issued by the NIF in 1987

outlining its vision for a peaceful settlement to the civil war and the

future of Sudan’s political system. In 1991 the RCC issued constitutional

decree No. 4 which enacted federal rule in the country. After some experi-

mentation with the federal structure, particularly with regard to the

The Sudan Handbook, edited by John Ryle, Justin Willis, Suliman Baldo and Jok Madut Jok. © 2011 Rift Valley Institute and contributors number and composition of states, the government settled for 25 states

(www.riftvalley.net).