Sudan’s NEC accused of implementing NCP agenda

March 3, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Senior officials at the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) accused Sudan’s National Elections Commission (NEC) of collaborating with the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) to ensure that the party participates in the polls scheduled for next April.

The party was thrown into disarray after the cabinet affairs minister Ahmed Sa’ad Omer, who is a DUP official, announced last month that its leader Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani is backing president Omer Hassan al-Bashir for a new term.

Afterwards, other DUP officials declared that the party will compete in the elections at all levels.

This was met by strong resistance from senior party figures who established “DUP Movement of masses and sectors” group who announced complete boycott of the elections.

The group accused al-Mirghani’s son al-Hassan of acting as party representative with the NEC using forged documents and without authorisation in order to formalize the DUP participation in the elections.

Initially the NEC refused to furnish them with the DUP letter submitted by al-Hassan recognising him as the party representative.

But the DUP group seeking to boycott elections secured a court order that compelled the NEC to provide this letter.

Ali al-Sayed, a member of this group, told Sudan Tribune that the letter contains several loopholes which reveal the “fraud” committed by al-Hassan without knowledge of the DUP bodies.

He noted that the letter contained stamps of “party presidency” and “the presidency of the organisational secretariat,” which do not exist in reality.

Al-Sayed criticised the NEC head Mokhtar al-Asam saying that he is clinging to the letter and working hard with the NCP to make sure that the DUP remains in the elections.

The next step would involve submitting written arguments on why al-Hassan’s letter is unauthentic.

It is widely believed that al-Hassan forged a secret deal with the NCP on behalf of his father to have the DUP participate in the elections in return for seats in state and federal parliament.

Al-Tayar newspaper quoted DUP sources as saying that the return of al-Mirghani from his residence in London depends on the implementation of agreements between the party and the NCP.

The sources said that al-Mirghani may postpone his return until after the elections because he wants to ensure that the NCP fulfills pledges it made to al-Hassan.

The DUP left opposition ranks and joined the “broad-based” government of the NCP in December 2011, citing the “need to save the country” in the words of al-Mirghani himself.

The decision of one of Sudan’s biggest opposition parties to join the government has created a great deal of internal dissent that saw many members quitting in protest. The party received three ministries in the federal cabinet.

(ST)