Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood to boycott elections
January 13, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Muslim Brotherhood movement in Sudan announced today that it will not participate the April general elections calling it a “useless” exercise in light of the atmosphere that makes results known beforehand.
In a statement, the group said it was the first to call for national reconciliation on the basis of the nation’s supreme interests and issues.
It added that they were always of the view that no one faction can solve Sudan’s crises alone and that the only route to resolve them is through genuine national dialogue that includes all pillars of the society.
“Dialogue cannot be held except in a free atmosphere where people can obtain their rights guaranteed by religion and constitution in expressing their views verbally in forums or in writing in newspapers or through protests or peaceful rallies and marches,” the statement reads.
“Dialogue entered by everyone in which they are ready to pay its necessary dues and make concessions required for the sake of the country, and of course, the first by nature of responsibility required to pay dues and make concessions, is the ruling party,” it adds.
The group stressed that elections should have been a subsequent phase that is reached after transitioning from a one party state to a nation of laws and bipartisan institutions that would oversee elections in a fair and unbiased manner on the basis of an elections law that guarantees fairness.
“As none of this happened and since the call for elections became the highest ceiling and an ultimate goal, we in the Muslim Brotherhood announce our boycott of the upcoming elections in April 2015,” the group’s statement said.
“We are supported by a popular general feeling of the uselessness of these elections, which are held in a reality that makes results settled before it begins and therefore they will be nothing but large [amount of] money spent and return to usual faces and policies,” it adds.
Most of Sudan’s major opposition parties are refusing to participate in the April ballot, saying the ruling party holds absolute control over power and refuses to make any compromise to end the civil war and allow public liberties.
They have proposed forming a transitional government and holding a national conference with the participation of rebel groups to discuss a peaceful solution for the conflicts in Darfur region, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states
(ST)