Sudan summons Canada’s envoy to protest criticism of elections
April 27, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign ministry has summoned on Monday the Canadian Chargé d’affaires in Khartoum to protest against his government’s criticism of polls which saw the re-election of sitting president Omer Hassan al-Bashir for another term.
He said that detention and maltreatment of activists and the censorship of media are clear violations of the fundamental freedoms of the Sudanese people.
“Given such an environment, Canada is concerned the elections do not reflect the will of the people of Sudan.” he said.
Sudan’s foreign ministry spokesperson and acting head of bilateral and regional department, Ali Al-Sadiq, told the Canadian diplomat that election is “a pure Sudanese affair and no other party has the right to intervene in it particularly as Sudan does not intervene in assessing fairness and transparency of elections in other countries”.
He pointed out that election was observed by 225 monitors from regional and international organisations, saying that none of them mentioned that polls were marred by flaws.
The Sudanese ambassador also told the Canadian diplomat that his role as an envoy to Khartoum is to report the ongoing political or economic developments with fairness and impartiality, asking him to focus his efforts to strengthen bilateral ties and to promote his country’s participation in resolving problems which hinder development and stability in Sudan.
Last Tuesday, Sudan’s foreign ministry also summoned the United Kingdom, Norway, United States and the European Union ambassadors to Khartoum over criticism of Sudan’s elections.
On Monday, Bashir was re-elected for another five-year term. His ruling National Congress Party (NCP) also won an absolute majority in the National Assembly and the regional legislative councils.
Election was boycotted by major opposition parties.
(ST)