Sudan’s general elections postponed by 11 days

The general elections, scheduled to commence on 2 April next year, have been postponed to 13 April.

The chairman of the National Elections Commission (NEC), Mukhtar El Asam, told Reuters on Saturday that the reasons for the “slight delay” would be announced on Sunday. He also noted that the period for submitting nominations for the presidency has been delayed from 31 December to 11 January.

The postponement is attributed by observers to a constitutional amendment on 3 November, by which the president is granted the right to appoint the state governors instead of having them elected. The amendment will become effective 60 days after approval by the parliament. As the NEC needs to adjust the procedures by excluding the governors’ elections, the general elections had to be adjourned.

'Peaceful uprising'

Sudanese opposition forces have repeatedly called for an adjournment of the general elections, considering the situation in the country not conducive for fair and free polls. They instead called for the formation of an interim government, and holding a broad national dialogue to tackle the political and economic crises in Sudan.

The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), an alliance of the main armed movements, strongly opposes the upcoming polls. In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the allied rebels called on the Sudanese “to transform the elections process into a peaceful uprising to destroy the forts of the regime”.

The SRF stated that a non-violent regime change requires “extensive preparation as well as coordination between all the forces of the Sudan Appeal and those wishing to bring about change”. “The aims set out in the Sudan Appeal are to be realised by a peaceful intifada, to put an end to the wars in the country, and establish a democratic Sudan where all citizens are able to enjoy their freedoms, and to feed their children.”

On 3 December, leaders of the SRF, NCF, NUP, and the Sudanese civil society signed the Sudan Appeal in Addis Ababa. In the two-page political communiqué, the joint opposition forces state that Sudan is slipping into an abyss. They refer to the various crises in the country, the violent conflicts and humanitarian suffering on the one hand, and economic and political bankruptcy on the other, stressing that a comprehensive solution cannot be adjourned much longer. The signatories agreed to cooperate in order to dismantle the one-party system, for the sake of a nation based on democratic values and equal citizenship.

Faroug Abu Eisa, who signed on behalf of the NCP, and Dr Amin Mekki Madani, representative of the civil society, were detained by security officers inside their homes in Khartoum on 6 December, a day after their return from the Ethiopian capital. They are being held incommunicado until today.