Opposition parties to boycott Sudan elections in 2020

A coalition of opposition parties, the National Consensus Forces (NCF), stated that it will not participate in the 2020 elections and refuses to meet with the ruling party to discuss these elections.

The national consensus forces have agreed to step up political action against the NCP regime as its leaders agreed to work to topple the regime, not to engage in dialogue with it and refuse to participate in the presidential elections in 2020.

Mohamed Diaeldin, leading member ofthe NCF, said in an interview with Radio Dabanga yesterday that the coalition held a meeting on Sunday to discuss organisational and administrative issues.

“The meeting stressed the need for the unity of the opposition […] to overthrow the regime and not to engage in dialogue with it as well as not to participate in the regime’s elections scheduled in 2020.”

Diauldin said that these are the grounds on which the alliance will be held.

The NCF called for an intifada last week to stand up against the “oppressive Khartoum regime”. Opposition groups assembled under the Broad National Front (BNF) also called upon Sudanese people to take to the streets on April 6.

Dialogue rejection

Mainly centre-left and leftist parties are part of the coalition, including the Sudan Communist Party (SCoP), the Arab Ba’ath Party (ABP), Nasserite Socialist Party (NSP) and the Unified National Unionist Party (UNUP).

The ScoP recently rejected a dialogue request by Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party. A statement issued by the party confirmed that “there is no dialogue with the regime, but overthrowing it, handover of power to the people and the establishment of a democratic alternative”.

The party vowed to continue planning for of a general political strike and civil disobedience actions to reach that goal.

2020 elections

Incumbent president Omar Al Bashir vowed that he would step down during the presidential election in 2020. He has been in power since 1989, following a military coup on a democratically elected government.

Al Bashir already declared his intention to step down in 2015. In an interview with a Sudanese newspaper in March 2013, the president said that his party deliberated to select a new presidential candidate for the elections of 2015. But his NCP insisted he continued in office, which he did after the elections that resulted in the favour of the ruling party.

Following this elections, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Norway (the members of the ‘Sudan Troika') said that they do not consider the Sudanese election to express the will of the people.