Umma party issues ultimatum on election, US sticks to original timetable
April 2, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The largest opposition party in North Sudan announced today its intention to boycott the April elections at all levels unless the government positively responds to a set of demands relating to reforming what they describe as a flawed process controlled by the ruling party.
Furthermore, Al-Mahdi’s party demanded that the right of South Sudan to hold the 2011 referendum as planned should not be subject to negotiations or political maneuvering.
The party said that should the government agree to the aforementioned terms, the elections must be postponed till next May which is different from the original date proposed by opposition parties which falls in November.
“If these eight conditions are not fulfilled by April 6, the Umma party will boycott all the process of elections,” Sara Nugd-Alla, a member of the Umma Party political bureau told reporters today.
A source with close links to the Umma Party told Sudan Tribune that deep divisions emerged at today’s meeting between those who wanted complete boycott and others who favored running in the elections citing that some nominees have invested much money in the campaign.
Nugd-Alla said that the visiting US special envoy to Sudan, who has been lobbying parties against boycotting, promised the Umma party chief that he would press the ruling National Congress party (NCP) to reschedule the elections.
However, the US state department appeared to insist on holding the polls as scheduled even though they expressed understanding of the opposition demands.
“We’re working hard to try to help the parties try to resolve these issues. We are still aiming for the election to occur on April 11,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said at the daily briefing.
“We certainly hope the parties can reach agreement so there will be maximum participation,” Crowley told reporters.
“What’s important here is to put together credible, legitimate institutions of government that can govern all of Sudan,” he added.
Sudanese officials said that Gration planned to meet electoral commission officials this weekend.
A senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that it was “premature” to endorse a delay in the election as Gration was still assessing the views of all sides.
This week the SPLM abruptly pulled its presidential candidate Yasir Arman which took the Northern opposition parties by surprise and led some to describe the decision as “betrayal” and “rushed” with some hinting that a secret deal with the NCP was behind the move in return for facilitating the 2011 referendum in South Sudan.
Arman has denied any deals that was made under the table as some reports have indicated.
On Thursday most of the opposition parties appeared in agreement over boycotting the presidential race in which incumbent President, Omer Hassan al-Bashir of the NCP who is running for re-election. They were non-committal however about participating at parliamentary and gubernatorial level.
The NCP has repeatedly said it will not accept any delay to the polls due to start on April 11 in Africa’s largest country, the first multi-party vote in 24 years as opposition parties have demanded. He also threatened the SPLM that he will not allow the referendum if elections are postponed.
On Friday, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which is the second largest opposition party in North Sudan announced today it would only withdraw from the presidential polls.
“Our party will participate in the coming elections except for the [level of the] presidency,” DUP information secretary Salah al-Basha told reporters.
A senior official of Bashir’s NCP mocked the opposition’s tactics. “If you know beforehand that this is a lost contest, why waste your time and resources on a lost bet?” the official, Ibrahim Ghandour, told Reuters. “This does not affect the legitimacy of the contest.”
Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes during a brutal counter-insurgency campaign in Darfur. He rejects the court’s jurisdiction and denies the accusations.
(ST)
Gatwech
Umma party issues ultimatum on election, US sticks to original timetable
This traditional hyena called Sadiq al-Mahdi should be told to shut up! Bashir is the man, the father of the CPA. He will control the North for the next five years while the South is out of this mess by January 2011.
Dinka Boy
Umma party issues ultimatum on election, US sticks to original timetable
Both of Gatwech and Agany are betrayers i ever heard!
You guys said that Bashier is the man.Wow!
you guys are born in 1990s.
South Sudan should understand these differences. Saddiq Almahdi said that election should be postpone to May while others said November.
South Sudan need to be careful. Nuer in general don,t no how to reason,how come Bashier is the man? they are empty.
Do you guys think he is aman and therefore, he will grant Southerners afree hand referendum? No?
Dinka Boy
Umma party issues ultimatum on election, US sticks to original timetable
These dicrepancies are the steps to destabalized CPA.
Wake up stupid leaders.
Dinka Boy
Umma party issues ultimatum on election, US sticks to original timetable
Thieling, Kim Deng, and Gatwech,plus Naath,
2010 election and referendum might be disaster indeed if Bashier take the presidency without Yasir Arman as achallenger.
SPLM made awrong decision to withdraw Arman in the race. This influnce came about from traitor Riek Machar who was bribe by NCP so that SPLM can withdraw from the race so that Bashier will take presidency without any problem.
Indeed, nothing critical thinking can come up when we have traitors around,and in fact they are Nuer in general.
We Nuer are good for everything and we are supporting Bashier and Dr Lam Akol. Let me add something that we Naath believe in food and wurnyang.ngundeeng for centuries as our true god in our land.
We make acoalition governmnet with Bashier in 1991 so that we can get our selve independent from Dinka who have been our presige leaders since the creation of Earth. After we make allaince with Arab governmnet, we agree with our respected president Bashier so that we can deployed our brave Nuer in the oil field in Bentiu to protect it from Dinka government who want to exploit our oil.
We deployed Matip Nhial to protect our oil from Dinka SPLM because that is the only thing that we can lived with,no other that can help us in this soil. We Nuer have been living for stealing and raiding cattle from Dinka for centuries,and in fact if we felt like we have nothing to eat, we go and raid civilians and take their cattle for our living so that we can wait for our crops to grow in our Nuer land.
Moreover, We Nuer value Arab more than the South because they have been giving as free food,and even they provide us free arms that can make us easy to go raiding and penetrate those Dinka who can resist our raiding. Yes, we Nuer knows that we can die but we value food than any thing and that is why we go raing the cattle because food is better than life.
Indeed, because we Nuer have shallow mind that can compete with South Sudanese, the only thing that we can do is to be nagative always and complained when the food is ready because we Nuer have no capacity to lead at all because we are the curse comunity as predicted by Ngundeeng and wurnyang.
Though we Nuer slaughtered Wurnyang when he gimmick as by giving as two identitical bulls, he kept one in the house and he led one bull killed and latter subsituted the dead with the alive bull and he said this bull is the bull that we killed before, as aresult, when we Nuer go to Dinka Bor land and every single dead Nuer will rose in his own house. In fact, because of the promise of Wurnyang, we just jump to the barrel of the guns and we all die while hopping that we will resurrect in our own house. None of us Nuer get up in houses therefore, we slaughtered Wurnyang and left with Ngundeeng.
We Nuer are sure that our only and educated man- Riek Machar Durgon will be the president of South for 50 years so that he can make it like the way Dinka and Equatorians led in the country/Sudan. We believed in Ngundeeng as our only servior,and no more than that because he promise as to have aleader in the near future and he told us that we are the only people who will lead the South till death.
Frankly, Dinka must know that we fight hard because of food and if they don,t provide us /Nuer enough food before April,then there will be no election as well as referendum because we desperately need somthing to eat. We Nuer are brave for the killing of innocents because those are the only people we can fight with. We Nuer knows that we are born empty and will die empty,but what can we do because our mind can not help us to undestand the positives of education. We are the curse community, we know about that but what can we do now.
We Naath we die after the very best two Nuer leaders; Dr Riek Machar and Agenlina Teny because if they die no any other leader can lead the south. We hope we Naath want every one to be uncivilian than attending education because we need more young youth to do the raiding and give food to the old and weak individual. I regrete of being called Anuer because our mind is thick and dark and that is why we can not see the truth behind the eye level. Thanks Ngundeegng Oyeee, Nuer Oyeee.