Sudan President Omar Al Bashir has named a new prime minister as he pressed on with a shake-up at the top.
In a decree, he appointed Mohamed Tahir Ela, former governor of the agricultural state of Jazeera, as prime minister.
Bashir’s three-decade rule has been rocked by two months of protests.
A deadly crackdown by the government forces has failed to suppress the protests.
He imposed a state of emergency in the country and dissolved the federal and provincial governments on Friday.
He sacked his vice president Bakri Hassan Saleh and replaced him with Defence Minister General Awad Ibnouf.
In a televised speech to the nation, Bashir pledged to form a government of technocrats to address Sudan’s chronic economic woes.
Protesters have dismissed the reshuffles, saying the state of emergency showed that Bashir’s rule was about to over.
Analysts said the state of emergency was an act of desperation in the face of public anger.
They said the Sudanese regime never understood the economy of the country and that is why there are in the mess.
Prominent newspaper editor Osman Mirghani was also detained by security agents for comments he made in a television interview criticising the move.
Sudan has been hit by a chronic shortage of hard currency to pay for imports.
The economic situation worsened since South Sudan became independent in 2011 taking with it the bulk of oil earnings.
The resulting shortages in basic goods have fuelled spiralling inflation.
Last December the government’s decision to triple the price of bread triggered protests across Sudan.
Ordinary Sudanese from farmers to middle-class professionals have been hit hard with no purchasing power and living standards going down.
An umbrella group of teachers, doctors and engineers and the Sudanese Professionals Association have taken the lead in organizing protests using social media and other ways.
The concentration of powers in Bashir’s hands set the stage for confrontation between the government and the protesters that has claimed at least life of 51 people.
