Sudanese opposition, independent candidates reject election results

The National Election Commission (NEC) on Monday announced that incumbent President Omar Al Bashir has won the presidential election with 94,5 percent of the votes. Opposition parties, as well as independent candidates in the election, refuse to recognise the outcomes.

The head of the NEC, Dr Mukhtar El Asam, reported at a press conference at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum on Monday that Al Bashir won with 5,252,478 votes of the 6,091,412 votes cast in total.

According to El Asam, 46 percent of the 13,126,989 registered voters cast their votes, during the presidential and parliamentary election held between 13 and 16 April.

‘Dignity, stability, and peace’

The Sudanese opposition, led by Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebel alliance, the National Umma Party (NUP), the National Consensus Forces (NCF), and the Civil Society Initiative renewed their rejection of the election and the results.

Dr Maryam El Sadig, NUP Co-Vice-President, commented to Radio Dabanga that President Al Bashir “seems to have gained popularity since the 2010 election, when he won with 74 percent of the votes”.

She pointed out that “since 2010, South Sudan broke away from Sudan, wars erupted in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, newly organised Janjaweed are molesting civilians in Darfur, corruption cases increased significantly, and the country was driven to the verge of bankruptcy.

“Though the country has become a haven for human and drugs trafficking, and a money laundering centre between 2010 and 2015, Al Bashir now won with 94 percent of the votes.”

She called on the Sudanese to “stand up and overthrow the regime, for the sake of a new homeland where the entire population is able to live in dignity, stability, and peace”.

‘Isolated’

The NCF will also not recognise the election results, “or any authority based on the outcomes of the election”. In a statement on Monday, the allied opposition parties noted that “the boycott of the election and the results of the funny and theatrical electoral process revealed the scale of awareness among the Sudanese people. At the same time, they revealed how much the ruling party has isolated itself from the people, despite all propaganda and misinformation attempts”.

Siddig Yousef, senior member of the Sudanese Communist Party, and one of the NCF leaders, told Radio Dabanga that “the lack of credibility of the regime and its determination to adhere to power will deepen the country's crises. The continuation of this regime represents the biggest obstacle for finding a solution for the crises in Sudan.”

He stressed that “the only option to free the country of this dictatorial regime, is a bold and effective uprising”, and called on all Sudanese to join the popular resistance committees that have been set up in various parts of the country.

Independent candidates

The Coalition of Independent Candidates who joined the election also refused to recognise the election results announced on Monday. “The quorum of 50 percent has not been reached, which means that the outcomes are not legitimate,” they said in a statement on Monday.

The independent candidates called on “all those interested in establishing democracy to take action against the election results, and the ensuing governmental, ministerial, parliamentary, and formations”.

They further appealed to “regional and international powers believing in democracy” not to recognise the election results.

Muamar Musa Mohamed, spokesman for the independent candidates, told Radio Dabanga that their participation in the election was based on the commitment of the ruling National Congress Party to a democratic transformation in Sudan.

“Our participation in the election proved the rightness of the Sudanese proverb ‘Follow the liar until the doorstep’. The nationwide boycott of the election proved that it does not represent the will of the people of Sudan.”