History of Sudan (1956–69)

Republic of the Sudan
جمهورية السودان Jumhūrīyat as-Sūdān
1956–1969
Flag Emblem
Anthem السلام الجمهوري Nahnu Jund Allah Jund Al-watan The Republican Anthem
Capital		Khartoum
Languages		Arabic English Regional languages
Religion		Christianity Animism Islam
Government		Republic
President
•	1956–1958	Sovereignty Council
•	1965–1969	Ismail al-Azhari
Prime minister
•	1956	Ismail al-Azhari
•	1967–1969	Muhammad Ahmad Mahgoub
Historical era		Cold War
•	Established	1 January 1956
•	Disestablished	25 May 1969
Area
•	1956	2,505,813 km² (967,500 sq mi)
Population
•	1956 est.	10,262,536
Density		4.1 /km²  (10.6 /sq mi)
Currency		Sudanese pound
Preceded by Succeeded by Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Republic of Egypt (1953–58) History of Sudan (1969–85)
Today part of		Sudan  South Sudan

On 1 January 1956 Anglo-Egyptian Sudan became the independent Republic of the Sudan. Before 1955, however, the government under Ismail al-Azhari had temporarily halted Sudan's progress toward self-determination, hoping to promote unity with Egypt. Despite his pro-Egyptian National Unionist Party (NUP) winning a majority in the 1953 parliamentary elections, however, Azhari realized that popular opinion had shifted against such a union. Azhari, who had been the major spokesman for the "unity of the Nile Valley", therefore reversed the NUP's stand and supported Sudanese independence. On December 19, 1955, the Sudanese parliament, under Azhari's leadership, unanimously adopted a declaration of independence that became effective on January 1, 1956. Azhari called for the withdrawal of foreign troops and requested the condominium powers to sponsor a plebiscite in advance.

Sudan achieved independence without the rival political parties having agreed on the form and content of a permanent constitution. Instead, the Constituent Assembly adopted a document known as the Transitional Constitution, which replaced the governor general as head of state with a five-member Supreme Commission that was elected by a parliament composed of an indirectly elected Senate and a popularly elected House of Representatives. The Transitional Constitution also allocated executive power to the prime minister, who was nominated by the House of Representatives and confirmed in office by the Supreme Commission.

Although it achieved independence without conflict, Sudan inherited many problems from the condominium. Chief among these was the status of the civil service. The government placed Sudanese in the administration and provided compensation and pensions for British officers of the Sudan Political Service who left the country; it retained those who could not be replaced, mostly technicians and teachers. Khartoum achieved this transformation quickly and with a minimum of turbulence, although southerners resented the replacement of British administrators in the south with northern Sudanese. To advance their interests, many southern leaders concentrated their efforts in Khartoum, where they hoped to win constitutional concessions. Although determined to resist what they perceived to be Arab imperialism, they were opposed to violence. Most southern representatives supported provincial autonomy and warned that failure to win legal concessions would drive the south to rebellion.

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