Sudan’s NCP hints at possibility of alliance with SPLM in elections
January 12, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese ruling National Congress Party (NCP) expressed openness to the idea of an alliance with its rival representing the South in the upcoming April elections, a senior official said today.
The presidential assistant and deputy NCP chairman Nafie Ali Nafie, speaking at a press conference today affirmed that his party is committed to holding the elections as scheduled.
Nafie stressed that the NCP will accept the choice of the people irrespective of the outcome, hinting to the possibility of alliance with Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) “in light of the keenness of both sides to implement of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and maintaining the unity”.
The NCP official added that the existing atmosphere and dialogue will enable the two partners to overcome the challenges and that such an alliance will pave the way to more stability and to guarantee the unity of Sudan.
The Sudanese National Election Committee (NEC) started accepting nominations today for the parliamentary and presidential races. Today president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir formally filed his nomination papers.
Critics say the NCP will likely achieve a comfortable win in the elections citing widespread fraud, vote buying and forged papers.
Sudanese opposition parties which took take a united in the Juba conference by threatening to boycott the elections hosted last September by the SPLM but have since appeared to have drifted apart.
The NCP has been harshly critical of the ex-Southern rebel group for joining hands with other opposition parties.
Nafie welcomed what he described as “clear signals” being reflected by the SPLM, adding that the NCP is standing for the implementation of the peace agreement even if it was not linked to the alliance.
He stressed that the NCP’s goal is to hold the elections, conclude the interim period and give Southerners the full freedom to decide in the self-determination referenda and in this regard called for a strong campaign to stress the importance of unity and to warn from the disadvantages of secession.
Furthermore, he hailed the NCP-SPLM relations saying they are currently at their best conditions following the ratification of laws.
In a related development, Britain’s Africa minister, Glenys Kinnock told reporters in Khartoum that the European Union (EU) may send observers to monitor the elections.
“If we are to have a credible election there has to be freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom for the media,” Kinnock, on a three-day visit, told reporters.
A senior Sudanese official said last month that election observers may include the witnesses of the CPA such as the United States, several European and African countries, regional organizations and representatives of the candidates.
However, the NEC warned that some observers may have ulterior motives and attempt to spur ethnic tensions similar to Zimbabwe and Kenya.
(ST)