Sudan: Survival of the National Congress Party

The International Crisis Group (ICG) published on 21 March 2016 a study titled "Sudan's Islamists: From Salvation to Survival."  It offers an analysis of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in the wake of the death of Sudan's leading Islamist, Hassan al-Turabi.

The ICG argues that in the absence of younger, credible Islamists to replace al-Turabi, the movement has been in terminal decline since he left the government in the late 1990s.  President Omar al-Bashir's strengthening of power around a small number of senior politicians, the military and security services has accompanied development of a more pragmatic government focused on regime survival.  At the same time, the NCP's shift from radical Islamism in its early days to more pragmatic politics has not been matched by normalization of relations with the West and it has looked to alternatives in the Gulf States, China, and India. 

This report is also available in Arabic.