Sudan’s Bashir re-elected with 94 percent of votes

April 27, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s president Omer Hassan al-Bashir won re-election with 94% of the vote, according to official results announced Monday, extending his nearly three-decade rule for another five years.

The chairman of the National Election Commission (NEC), Mukhtar al-Asam, said at a briefing broadcast on national television on Monday that Bashir received about 5.2 million votes.

Al-Asam said that turnout was 46.4 %, stressing that widespread reports of low participation were “inaccurate”.

He pointed out that turnout was lowest in Khartoum state, at 34.48 %, while Kassala state in eastern Sudan led with 66.1% turnout.

Polls results also showed that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) won 323 of the 426 seats in the National Assembly followed by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) led by Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani who won 25 seats.

Independent candidates won 19 seats while the DUP led by Jalal al-Digair came forth by 15 seats.

NCP won 128 seats out of the 197 seats reserved for women in the National Assembly while the DUP led by al-Mirghani won 6 seats and the Federal Umma Party (FUP) won 3 seats.

The ruling party won 149 seats out of 213 seats of the geographical constituencies in the National Assembly while independent candidates won 19 seats and the DUP led by al-Mirghani won 15 seats.

The opposition boycotted the election, citing a widespread crackdown on civil society and the media, which they say created an impossible environment to fairly contest Bashir’s presidency.

The African Union (AU) observer mission confirmed last week the low turnout in the elections saying it would not exceed 40% and said this could be partially due to boycott by opposition parties.

The European Union, United States, Britain and Norway all criticised the election, saying the lack of a promised national dialogue left Sudan without an inclusive political process.

President Bashir will take the oath of office for a third term on 2 June 2015.

(ST)