Sudan electoral commission endorses constituencies formation

August 3, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan’s national elections commission approved the final formation of the geographical constituencies for publication and distribution, the official news agency (SUNA) reported today.

The elections body held a meeting today in the Sudanese capital headed by Chairman Judge Abel Alier.

The Deputy Secretary-General of the commission Abdullah Mohammed Abdullah, said that the geographical constituencies formation was based on the results of the controversial census results.

Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) refused to accept the census results saying it understated the South Sudan population.

Furthermore, the ex-Southern rebel group said that the elections should use the 1956 census percentage in determining the geographical constituencies for the purposes of the elections.

The commission said that a report will be published, in which the identification and demarcation of constituencies to be submitted to the President, political party leaders, Speaker of the National Assembly and a number of bodies as spelled out in the electoral law.

Objections are to be submitted within a month after which the constituencies will be finalized, the commission spokesperson said.

Any part may still challenge the formation before the courts afterwards, he added.

SUNA quoted the commission as stating that the geographical constituencies include national and state ones as well as special constituencies for South Legislative assembly.

Mukhtar Al-Asam head of the committee for the Commission and the Electoral Register at the board added that these constituencies do not include those for woman or proportional representation of political parties.

He added that all constituencies in all regions of Sudan are equal in population with a variation of no more than +/-15%.

The elections in Sudan will be the first in more than 20 years under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended over two decades of civil war between north and south Sudan.

The electoral commission has twice delayed the elections and is now scheduled for April 2010.

Last week the US special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration said that he believes that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and SPLM are reluctant to have the elections held in April 2010.

(ST)