Darfur elections do not meet national and international standards
April 17, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The Carter Center emitted an adverse opinion on the electoral process in the restive Darfur region saying it did not meet national and international standards.
The difficulty to conduct a valid monitoring led the European Union team to withdraw its observers from the troubled region citing security reasons.
In its evaluation of the electoral process Carter Center said the first multiparty elections since 24 year do not meet the international standards. “It is apparent that the elections will fall short of meeting international standards and Sudan’s obligations for genuine elections in many respects” said a preliminary report released today.
However, “with respect to Darfur, the Center cannot endorse elections in the region as meeting national or international standards,” the Center said both political and technical factors push them to hold it as special case.
The US based Carter Center further said “the reach of the Center’s observation in Darfur was restricted due to security considerations”.
The report cited state of emergency and repression of civil liberties, continued displacement of IDPs, intermittent armed clashes in Jebel Marra and the “equity of census process as well as voter registration.
“In North Darfur, a number of IDP camp leaders were arrested,” the report mentioned.
The Center also underscored the rejection of electoral process in Darfur by rebel and political leaders in the region saying its legitimacy was absent.
“The boycott of almost all political opposition cannot be ignored. The confidence of many parties and citizens in the legitimacy of a process occurring in a region still in constant turmoil was absent.”
The report emphasized in its conclusions that due to the limited participation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur in the census and voter registration, much of the population was left out of the process.
(ST)