Sudan’s NCF to campaign for election boycott
January 30, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) said it will launch next week a campaign to boycott the general elections scheduled for April.
“Delegates from these political forces have approved the program of the campaign which will include addressing the public in commercial markets and places of public gatherings to urge them to boycott the elections,” he said.
On 3 December, Sudanese political and armed opposition forces and civil society organisations signed in Addis Ababa the “Sudan Call” for the end of war, dismantlement of the one-party state, achievement of a comprehensive peace and democratic transition in the country.
The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir accused signatories of the “Sudan Call” of being agents to foreign powers and warned them from returning to the country.
While the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) arrested NCF’s chairman, Farouq Abu Issa, and head of the Alliance of the Sudanese Civil Society Organisations, Amin Maki Madani, after their return from Addis Ababa where they signed the “Sudan Call” accord with rebel groups.
Youssef pointed the campaign will also include opening of 30 parallel polling stations at the headquarters of the opposition parties, saying that people will use a ballot card reading “I am boycotting elections”.
He pointed that dozens of similar polling stations will be opened across the country at a later stage.
According to Youssef, the campaign will be launched next Wednesday in a public rally which will be addressed by several opposition leaders at the headquarters of the National Umma Party (NUP).
Sudan Tribune was unable to reach any government official for comment on whether authorities will allow the opposition forces to launch the campaign to boycott the elections or it will prevent it.
On Wednesday, Sudan’s interior minister, Ismat Abdel-Rahman, said that police will not allow any actions aimed at undermining security or disrupting elections. Leading figures at the NCP also warned against attempts to sabotage elections.
Meanwhile, the leading figure at the Reform Now Movement (RNM) which recently suspended participation in the government-led national dialogue, Hassan Rizg, told Sudan Tribune that they agree with the NCF on boycotting elections but said the two sides have not coordinated on the latter’s campaign to achieve that purpose.
The NCP rejects calls by all the Sudanese political forces to postpone the general election scheduled for April until after the national dialogue and formation of a transitional government, saying it is a constitutional requirement that must be met.
(ST)