Sudan 2015 elections: Voter registration to start in October

The Sudanese National Elections Commission (NEC) announced that voter registration will start in October. Spokesman for the NEC, Safwat Subhi Fanous, told the press in Khartoum on Tuesday that the Commission has begun with the preparations for the national elections, scheduled to take place in April next year. Fanous stressed that any citizen having a national number is entitled to register as voter. “After the completion of the electoral registry, the percentage of eligible voters for the upcoming elections will be determined.” He reiterated that the commission would carry out its work with transparency and integrity. The coming general elections in Sudan are highly controversial. Sudanese opposition parties threaten to boycott the elections, saying that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) holds absolute control over power, and refuses to make any compromise to end the civil wars in the country, and allow public freedoms. The opposition parties instead propose the establishment of an interim government. A national “constitutional conference” is to be convened, with the participation of the armed movements, to discuss the “reconstruction of a new, democratic Sudan”. After a political agreement on constitutional matters, the interim government would organise general elections. The NCP rejects this proposal, saying that the opposition must simply prepare for the 2015 elections, and that the rebels in Darfur and in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile should join separate peace negotiations first. President Omar Al Bashir on Monday affirmed that the elections will take place as scheduled. Addressing the National Parliament, he urged all political parties to “prepare early and properly” for the coming elections, pledging that the vote would be “fair and transparent”. The President called on all sectors of the Sudanese people, including ex-rebels, to take part in writing the country’s new constitution. He renewed his call on Darfuri rebels to lay down their arms and sign the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, pledging amnesty to them. “We affirm our readiness to pardon these rebels, and consult with them on arrangements to join the peace process,” he said. File photo: Women voting in Hosh Bannaga, Al Bashir’s hometown (150 km north of Khartoum) on 12 April 2010 (Patrick Baz/AFP)