Sudan’s NCP appears heading towards a landslide victory in North Sudan

April 16, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Sudan is heading steadily towards a solid victory in North Sudan on all levels as opposition parties are beginning to concede defeat in some parts of the country citing widespread fraud as the reason behind this outcome.

The National Elections Commission (NEC) has started counting votes since the polls officially closed on Thursday in Sudan’s first multi-party elections since 1986. However, this election has been marred by opposition boycott and technical issues that have undermined its credibility in the eyes of the observers.

In the presidential race, the NCP leader and incumbent president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir maintained a comfortable lead over his rivals scoring no less than 85% in the districts announced so far by NEC including foreign posts with Sudanese expatriates voting abroad.

But the race was expected to be an easy one for Bashir after his main challengers, the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) candidate Yasir Arman and the ex-PM Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi who is the Umma party chief withdrew from the race.

By contrast, the legislative and gubernatorial elections in the North were expected to witness a stiff competition between parties some of which are relying on a religious followers base such as the Unionist Party (DUP) whose leader Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani is also the head of the Al-Khatmiya religious sect.

DUP and few other parties that did not boycott the elections revealed unfavorable preliminary results as reported to them by their monitors.

“Everything is totally corrupt. We are fed up and we will never recognize these elections,” the DUP’s Salah al-Basha told Reuters.

Prior to the vote, he said the party was sure to win the governorships of at least six states. Friday he said it looked to have won none.

Another opposition source told Sudan Tribune that the Popular Congress Party (PCP) led by Islamist figure Hassan Al-Turabi had suffered a “staggering” defeat in the elections

This week the NCP senior figure Ghazi Salah Al-Deen Al-Attabani has offered all opposition parties to join the new government even if they boycotted the elections saying the country needs consensus ahead of the 2011 referendum in South Sudan.

However Bashir dismissed his aide’s remarks saying the post-election government will consist primarily of those parties that did not boycott.

The Sudanese president in an interview with the independent Al-Akhbar newspaper questioned the wisdom of elections and competition if all parties were going to be part of the national government without regard to the outcome produced by the election.

He said that it is best for the country to have a strong government that enjoys a degree of coherence and harmony that reflects parliamentary and also to have a strong and responsible opposition exercising its oversight role on government performance.

(ST)