Sudan’s ruling party dismisses members running in elections as independents

April 7, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has dismissed all its members running as independents in next Monday’s general elections.

Several NCP members are running independently in legislative and presidential races including the former minister of culture in Khartoum state and presidential candidate, Mohamed Awad al-Baroudi, and the parliamentary nominee Mubarak Abbas from the River Nile state.

Last January, NCP warned that members who seek to run independently in the country’s upcoming general elections will be held accountable.

NCP also dispatched some party officials to various states to dissuade the party’s members from running as independents in the poll.

Hamid Mumtaz, political secretary of the NCP, said the majority of party members who decided to run independently have complied with the rules and pulled out of the elections race.

NCP spokesperson, Yasser Youssef, said those who decided to run outside the regulatory frameworks of the party have been dismissed on the bases of article (4/5) of the party’s statute.

“This article states that any member who runs outside the regulatory frameworks of the party shall automatically loses his membership,” he said.

He told reporters following meeting of the NCP’s supreme committee for elections on Monday they listened to a detailed report on the media performance during the past period as well as its handling of the party’s electoral campaign.

Youssef said the supreme committee praised media performance, renewing call for it to continue the good work until the votes counting phase in order to reflect its real role in monitoring the electoral process.

The NCP official added the supreme committee also listened to detailed reports on the final preparations for the voting phase which will kick off on Monday and continues for three days.

According to Youssef, the meeting also assessed the regional tours carried out by the NCP’s presidential nominee Omer Hassan al-Bashir during the electoral campaign, saying they praised the outcome of those tours which drew millions of supporters.

He said the meeting also listened to a detailed report from the NCP organisational communications official on the expected winning percentages in all geographical constituencies besides arrangements made to offer support for particular constituencies.

The spokesperson also said the meeting discussed ongoing preparation for the final rally of the NCP’s presidential candidate which will be held on Thursday, expressing satisfaction with the party’s performance in all constituencies.

The meeting further expressed appreciation for the efforts made by national figures from other political parties and civil society organization to support Bashir’s nomination.

(ST)