Sudan’s VP says calls for postponement of elections “unjustified”
January 23, 2015 (SHENDI) – Sudan’s vice-president, Hassabo Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, said calls from opposition parties to delay general elections is not objectively or legally justified.
He underscored his government’s adherence to hold elections on time reflect its commitment to the principle of peaceful transformation of power through ballot boxes, vowing to hold fair and transparent elections.
Sudan’s general elections are set to be held in April, but opposition parties are refusing to participate saying the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) holds absolute control over power and refuses to make any compromise to end the civil war and allow public liberties.
However, the NCP reject any postponement to the electoral process, saying it would create a constitutional vacuum and cause chaos in the country.
Meanwhile, the assistant secretary general of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) led by Jalal al-Digair and minister of labour, Ishraga Sayed Mahmoud, said the political parties which decided to participate in the elections are facing real financial problem.
She said her party set up a financial committee to secure the funding for participation in elections at all states and in all levels except presidential elections.
At a press conference on Friday, Mahmoud called on all political forces participating in the elections to control spending in order to achieve a reasonable degree of balance among them in the elections.
She underscored that political parties should compete on the bases of their programs away from the influence of money and power.
Meanwhile, Sudan’s National Election Commission (NEC) announced on Thursday that nominations for the presidential and national assembly elections had now closed.
NEC said it approved nine candidates for the presidency, saying more than 3000 nominations had been registered for the elections.
(ST)