KHARTOUM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), a former rebel movement in southern Sudan which signed a peace agreement with the government in 2005, has nominated Yassir Arman to run for presidency in the upcoming general elections, the Miraya Radio reported Friday.

In an interview with the radio, Arman termed his nomination by the SPLM as "the beginning of a changing era in Sudan."

He promised that if being elected as the country's president, he would "implement the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, find out a peaceful solution for the conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur and realize a real democratic change in the country."

Yassir Arman is a senior figure in the party, serving as the movement's deputy secretary general for northern Sudan and the head of the SPLM bloc in the National Assembly.

He will face the incumbent President Omar al-Bashir, who on Monday stepped down from his role as army commander-in-chief to vie for the votes that would legitimize his 20-year rule through the National Islamic Front, now called the National Congress Party.

The general elections, scheduled for April this year, would be the first multi-party elections held in this African country since more than 20 years.