PART TWELVE. THE STATES AND ABYEI AREA
177. States of the Sudan
- The Republic of the Sudan shall be decentralized and composed of states.
- The National Legislature shall determine the number of states as well as their names, capitals and geographical boundaries; provided that such legislation shall be issued and amended in accordance with the provisions of Article 91(4)(a) herein. However, the January 1st, 1956 boundary between the North and the South shall be inviolable subject to Article 183(4) of this Constitution.
178. State Organs
- There shall be legislative, executive and judicial organs at state level which shall function in accordance with this Constitution, the relevant state constitution and, in respect of the states of Southern Sudan, also in accordance with the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan.
- The state shall promote and empower local government. Organization of the local government and elections to its respective institutions shall be conducted in accordance with the relevant state constitution.
179. State Executive
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- The state executive shall be headed by a Governor elected by the people in the state, in compliance with the procedures prescribed by the National Elections Commission and in accordance with this Constitution, the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan where applicable, the relevant state constitution and the law.
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- The state legislature may, in accordance with the state constitution, pass, by three quarters majority of all its members, a vote of no-confidence in the Governor,
- Should the state legislature pass a vote of no-confidence as stated in sub-Article (a) above, the President of the Republic shall call the state electorate for snap elections of the Governor to be conducted within sixty days. If the concerned state is a Southern Sudan state, the President of the Republic shall act upon a request that shall be made by the President of the Government of Southern Sudan,
- The Governor elected in the snap elections shall serve for the remainder of the original tenure,
- Should the Governor who was subjected to the vote of no-confidence be re-elected, the state legislature shall be deemed to have been dissolved. A new state legislature shall be elected within three months to complete the tenure of the dissolved legislature,
- A vote of no-confidence in the Governor shall not be passed before he spends twelve months in office.
- The state council of ministers shall be appointed by the Governor in accordance with the state constitution.
- The state ministers shall be individually and collectively accountable to the Governor and the state legislature in the performance of their functions; a state minister shall be removed by the Governor or on a motion supported by two-thirds of all the members of the state legislature.
- The Governor shall, together with the state council of ministers appointed by him, exercise the executive powers of the state which shall be in respect of the functional areas in Schedules C and D read together with Schedules E and F herein and such other executive competences as are conferred upon the state by this Constitution, the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan and the state constitution.
180. State Legislature
- The state shall have a state legislature composed of members elected in accordance with the state constitution and the law and as set forth by the National Elections Commission.
- The state legislature shall prepare and adopt the state interim constitution provided that it shall be in conformity with this Constitution, the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan where applicable and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
- The state legislature shall have law-making competence in respect of the functional areas listed in Schedules C and D read together with Schedules E and F herein.
- The state legislature shall decide its own rules of procedure, appoint its committees and elect its speaker and other officers.
- Governors and members of state councils of ministers and legislatures shall have immunities as are provided for by law.
181. State Judiciary
- The state constitution shall provide for the establishment of such state courts by the state judiciary as necessary.
- State courts shall have civil and criminal jurisdiction in respect of state, Southern Sudan, and national laws, save that a right of appeal shall lie as provided in this Constitution, the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan whenever applicable, however, national legislation shall determine the civil and criminal procedures in respect of litigation or prosecution under National laws in accordance with this Constitution.
- State legislations shall provide for:-
- the appointment and dismissal of lay magistrates,
- guarantees for the independence and impartiality of state judiciary and ensure that Judges are not subjected to any interference.
- The structures and powers of the courts of the states of Southern Sudan shall be subject to the provisions of this Constitution and the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan and the constitution of the state concerned.
182. Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States
- Without prejudice to any of the provisions of this Constitution, the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States shall apply with respect to those two states.
- Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States shall be subject to popular consultation by the people of the two states through their respective democratically elected legislatures in accordance with the provisions stated therein.
183. Abyei Area
- Without prejudice to any of the provisions of this Constitution and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the Protocol on the Resolution of the Conflict in Abyei Area shall apply with respect to Abyei Area.
- Abyei Area shall be accorded special administrative status under the Presidency, in which residents of Abyei Area shall be citizens of both Southern Kordofan and Bahr el Ghazal.
- Simultaneously with the referendum for Southern Sudan, the residents of Abyei Area shall vote in a separate referendum, which shall present the residents of Abyei Area, irrespective of the results of the Southern Sudan Referendum, with the following choices:-
- that Abyei Area retain its special administrative status in the north,
- that Abyei Area be part of Bahr el Ghazal.
- The January 1st, 1956 line between the north and the south shall be inviolable, except as agreed in sub-Article (3) above.
184. Interim Provisions for States
- Pending the elections referred to in Article 216 herein:.
- Governors shall be appointed by the President of the Republic in consultation with the First Vice President. In the case of Southern Sudan, the President of Government of Southern Sudan in consultation with Vice President of Government of Southern Sudan,
- The Governor of one Southern Sudan state shall be a nominee of the National Congress Party and one Deputy Governor in a different Southern Sudan state shall also be a nominee of the National Congress Party.
- Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-Article (3) below, seats of the legislatures and executives of the states shall be allocated as follows:-
- The National Congress Party shall have seventy percent of the seats in the Northern states, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement shall have seventy percent of the seats in the Southern Sudan states,
- The remaining thirty percent of the seats in the Northern and Southern Sudan states shall be allocated as follows:-
- ten percent of the seats in Southern Sudan states to be filled by the National Congress Party,
- ten percent of the seats in the Northern Sudan states to be filled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement,
- twenty percent of the seats in Northern and Southern Sudan states to be filled by representatives of other Northern and Southern Sudan political forces, respectively.
- Seats of the legislatures and executives of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states shall be allocated in accordance with the Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States.
