Al-Mahdi labels upcoming elections a “democratic fiasco”

February 4, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The leader of the National Umma Party (NUP) al-Sadiq al-Mahdi has dismissed the upcoming general elections as a “democratic fiasco” and blasted the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) for creating crises across the country.

Speaking via phone at the kickoff ceremony for the elections boycott campaign by opposition parties in Khartoum, al-Mahdi said that the NCP committed ten sins including splitting the country, tarnishing image of Islamic ideology, damaging the economy, wasting oil money, fighting civil war on multiple fronts and carrying out crimes that warranted intervention of the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Al-Mahdi also noted splits within the NCP into various groups and announced that he is seeking to rally proponents of the “new regime” under one body that would coordinate their work and draft an accord so that the different forces would agree on a new constitution that would build a democratic and peaceful Sudan.

The former Prime Minister reiterated rejection of the constitutional amendments which reinforced the “one man rule” and next April’s elections which he said would prove to be as much of a hoax as the NCP’s Islamic programme.

The Sudanese opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) said last week that the elections boycott campaign will encompass addressing people in commercial markets and places of public gatherings to urge them to boycott the elections.

“Leave” is the slogan picked by NCF for the campaign and people will be using ballot papers with “I am boycotting” written on them.

But the NCP described the campaign as an “anarchist project” and attributed to opposition failure to convince voters.

The NCP rejected calls by Sudanese opposition to postpone the general election scheduled for April until after the national dialogue and formation of a transitional government and insists that it is a constitutional requirement that must be met.

(ST)