Sudan opposition criticizes international election observers

April 9, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — A Sudanese opposition leader today criticized international election observers saying that they are resorting to “concealment” under intimidation from the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) leading to overlooking major flaws and discrepancies in the process.

Sudan’s first multi-party elections in 24 years are due to start on Sunday amid accusations by opposition of widespread fraud and boycott by several major parties casting doubt over the credibility of the polls that were hoped to bring democratic transformation to a country plagued by civil war and instability.

The Umma Reform and Renewal Party (URRP) leader Mubarak Al-Fadil said at a press conference alongside Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) deputy Secretary General Yasir Arman today that the presence of foreign observers such as Carter Center and the European Union (EU) will contribute to granting legitimacy to the elections and enforcement of the status quo.

Al-Fadil further said that the observers did not disclose that the National Election Commission (NEC) refused to allow them to verify the voters records adding that it has not been printed up till now because names are still added to it.

While two of the largest parties agreed to boycott the polls in most of Sudan’s north, other smaller groups remain in the race. International observer missions will still monitor voting.

However, a seven-year conflict has hindered movement in Darfur. The EU said it could not effectively observe the polls there and withdrew its observers from the western region.

Al-Fadil and Arman slammed the NCP, NEC and UN saying that they are partners in the “fraud process” at the elections. He added that the ruling party has intimidated the observers against trying to unveil any irregularities.

The Sudanese president has twice threatened this year to mutilate and expel any foreign observers if they call for postponing elections but softened his tone later.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Thursday he was disappointed by the boycotts. “I regret that some of the parties have decided not to participate,” he told reporters after he arrived in Khartoum to observe the voting.

Sudanese activists on Wednesday urged the international observer missions to withdraw fully from Africa’s largest country.

“International elections observer missions should immediately pull out of Sudan,” they said in a joint statement.

The activists said the international observers could not fully cover the 10,000 voting centres and with the U.S.-based Carter Center being the only long-term mission, the others had missed most of the fraud during last year’s voter registration.

“These missions lend the appearance of legitimacy to what has been proven to be a deeply flawed elections process and the presumed re-election of a man who is internationally wanted for war crimes in a vote that is neither free nor fair.”

The elections mark a key stage in a 2005 north-south peace deal which ended Sudan’s 22-year civil war, and precede a 2011 referendum on southern independence. The semi-autonomous south is widely expected to secede.

(ST)