No date set for announcing final elections result: Sudan

April 21, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese National Elections Commission (NEC) announced today that it has not yet determined when final results will be released for the first multi-party polls held since 1986.

The Sudan official news agency (SUNA) carried a statement from the NEC saying it is still monitoring all states to get the full election results and urged the states to work on completing the counting process as soon as possible.

Originally, the NEC was scheduled to announce the outcome of the elections race last Tuesday but delayed it citing technical problems but suggested it could be forthcoming before the end of the week.

The statement noted that announcing the winner for the post of president depends primarily on obtaining all the valid votes from all states and in countries abroad to determine the winning percentage of 50%+1. The NEC added that the same rule applies to the presidential race in South Sudan.

Partial results has been announced all throughout the country primarily in the North showing a strong standing for the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

The NCP leader and incumbent president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir Bashir is the only sitting head of state wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Darfur and hopes a victory would legitimize his government in defiance of the arrest warrant. He denies the charges.

Much of the opposition boycotted the proceedings before voting started citing irregularities, and observers have already said the elections did not meet international standards.

(ST)