KHARTOUM, Sudan, July 6 (UPI) -- Sudan's Parliament ratified a constitution that will govern the country for six years in line with a peace agreement between the government and rebels.
The legislators approved the draft constitution unanimously after it was written by a special constitutional committee in conformity with the agreement signed in Kenya Jan. 9 by the Sudanese government and the southern rebels of the Sudan's People Liberation Army/Movement led by John Garang.
The agreement ended Sudan's 20-year-old civil strife, Africa's longest crisis.
The draft constitution is to be approved later by SPLA/M's Liberation Council and becomes effective as soon as it is signed by President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in a ceremony set for Saturday in the presidential palace in Khartoum.
Under the new constitution, the state's legislative, executive and judicial authorities will be restructured. Bashir will remain president, Garang will be appointed first vice president and Othman Taha second vice president.
A new government will also be formed including 52 percent from the ruling National Congress Party, 28 percent from the SPLA/M, 14 percent of northern political forces, and 6 percent of other southern political groups.
