Sudan’s NCP accused of using gov’t organs to hamper poll boycott campaign
March 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese opposition accused the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of exploiting government bodies, including the police and security services, to obstruct its elections boycott campaign.
These forces want elections postponed until the formation of a national government for a transitional period that would oversee the drafting of a new constitution and fair elections.
Sudanese officials including president Omer Hassan al-Bashir dismissed the campaign which also calls on him to resign and stressed that it does not frighten him.
The political bureau of the National Umma Party (NUP) attributed the repressive practices of the authorities in blocking opposition symposiums in El-Obeid, Sennar, Dongola and Halfa to the recent constitutional amendments which “concentrated power in the hands of a single person and his repressive apparatus”.
Last January, Sudanese lawmakers approved two controversial constitutional amendments introduced by the NCP.
The first bill allows the president to appoint governors who will no longer be elected through universal suffrage. The second transforms the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) into regular force to legitimize the creation of its militia the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The NUP said in a statement on Sunday that opposition forces will not be deterred by these repressive practices, stressing they will continue to mobilize the masses to boycott elections.
The statement demanded immediate release of opposition activists who were detained in El-Obeid.
NISS blocked a symposium of opposition forces in the state capital of North Kordofan state El-Obeid on Saturday evening and arrested more than two dozen attendees before releasing them later.
Among those taken into custody were the Secretary General of the NUP Sarah Nugdalla, Unionist Movement figure Mohamed Yacoub Shadad in addition to 34 other opposition figures.
The NUP underscored that it will not recognize results of the upcoming elections, stressing adherence to the principles laid out in “Paris Declaration”, “Sudan Call” and the “Berlin Declaration”.
It called upon Sudanese people to fully boycott elections in order to “abort the plot aimed at hijacking the Sudanese state, falsifying the will of the people and legitimizing the regime.”
The NUP also demanded the international community not to monitor elections and not to recognize its results and put heavy pressures to “stop the devastating war and address its tragic effects.”
The Sudanese army and its allied militias have been fighting Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.
In the same context, the “Sudan Call” forces stressed, in a press a statement, the use of police and NISS in obstructing opposition activities clearly illustrates that the NCP exploits the state in the “elections play”.
“If this regime doesn’t tolerate voices opposing elections, it will not respect any votes against it in the ballot boxes,” it added.
It described the elections boycott campaign a legitimate expression of the position of the “Sudan Call” forces towards the elections, saying the campaign is carried out through peaceful and democratic means.
The statement described the call for elections boycott as “national duty” that transcends the constitutional and legal rights, demanding immediate release of all political detainees.
“Sudan Call” forces include the opposition umbrella National Consensus Forces (NCF), alliance of rebel groups Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), NUP and civil society groups.
(ST)