Opposition scores victory in Sudan university poll

KHARTOUM, July 17 (Reuters) – Opposition candidates beat pro-government rivals in student elections at Sudan’s oldest university for the first time in nearly a decade, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

Unlike past student elections, which were marred by violence between supporters and opponents of the Islamist government in Khartoum, this year’s polls were peaceful.

Students from the opposition National Democratic Alliance won a majority of votes, which granted them all seats in the 40-member student council, the government-owned daily al-Anbaa said.

An independent religious party came second and the ruling National Congress Party came third.

Students in Sudan traditionally have greater political weight than their age and numbers would suggest, and are an important barometer of public opinion.

Authorities cancelled university elections in 1996 after clashes in which students burned and destroyed buildings and administration vehicles.