Sudan reiterates refusal to postpone general elections

February 18, 2015 (NYALA) – The Sudanese government has reaffirmed that presidential and parliamentary elections will be hold in April denying any intentions to postpone it.

Sudan’s minister of justice, Mohamed Bushara Dousa, said in press statements in Nyala on Wednesday the postponement of elections is “impossible” even if a consensus among political parties has been achieved to that effect.

He pointed that constitutional amendments to delay elections should have been made at least two month prior to the end of parliamentary deliberations, wondering about the legal grounds for delaying elections.

The Sudanese minister stressed that the decision to boycott elections is a personal one, saying no party has the legal right to prevent the people from casting their ballots.

On Sunday, Sudan’s National Elections Commission (NEC) announced that polling in the coming elections will take place from 13 to 15 April while vote counting will begin on 16 April.

The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) rejected calls by Sudanese opposition to postpone the general elections until after the national dialogue and formation of a transitional government and insists that it is a constitutional requirement that must be met.

Last week, the opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) and the opposition Reform Now Movement (RNM) launched two separate campaigns for poll boycott.

In another context, Dousa announced the release of all prisoners of public right at Kass prison, calling upon residents to maintain security in south Darfur state.

The governor of South Darfur state, Adam Mahmoud Jar al-Nabi, for his part, announced that all courts will be opened on Wednesday in order to achieve justice, pledging to resolve the electricity problem in the locality of Kass, 86 km west of South Darfur capital, Nyala.

Dousa is currently visiting South Darfur within the framework of a campaign for promoting juridical work in the state.

(ST)