President Omar al-Bashir named a new prime minister Saturday as he pressed on with a shake-up at the top, even as protest leaders dismissed his move to impose a state of emergency across Sudan to quell nationwide demonstrations.
Bashir's three-decade rule has been rocked by two months of protests that a deadly crackdown has failed to suppress. On Friday, he imposed a nationwide state of emergency and dissolved the federal and provincial governments.
In a televised speech to the nation, the veteran leader pledged to form a government of technocrats to address Sudan's chronic economic woes, which have been the driving force behind the protests.
On Saturday, Bashir sacked his vice president and long-time ally Bakri Hassan Saleh, replacing him with Defence Minister General Awad Ibnouf.
In a separate decree, he appointed Mohamed Tahir Ela, former governor of the agricultural state of Jazeera, as prime minister.
But protest organisers and their supporters in the political opposition dismissed the reshuffles.
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They said the state of emergency showed that Bashir's rule was weakened and only its overthrow would now satisfy the protesters.
"Imposing a state of emergency shows the fear within the regime," the Alliance for Freedom and Change said.
"We will continue with our people to take to the streets across all towns and villages until our demand has been achieved."
"Nothing will satisfy the people who are taking to the streets except the overthrow of this regime."
"The regime has never understood economics...that's why there are in the mess they are."
"It concentrates powers in Bashir's hands and sets the stage for a confrontation with the protest movement, which may become more violent than it has been."