Sudan’s NCP says many party members support al-Bashir reelection in 2020

July 18, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) said it has launched internal discussions to select the party candidate for the 2020 presidential elections.

NCP political secretary Omer Basan said his party held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss major issues on the political arena and on top of which the selection of a presidential candidate for 2020 elections.

He pointed out that many voices within the NCP, as well as other political and societal forces, call for the re-election of President Omer al-Bashir for a third term.

Basan called on all political forces to prepare for participation in the 2020 elections, saying ballots would determine which party will win the trust of the Sudanese people to rule the country.

Al-Bashir’s term ends in 2020 and he couldn’t run for office again according to the constitution. So, running for a third term requires amendment of the constitution but many in the ruling party or the opposition forces are not supportive of such a move.

Nonetheless, some voices within the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and its partners in the Government of National Consensus have recently called for amending the constitution to allow him to run for the presidency again.

Also, a group called the National Initiative of Youth Around the President (NIYAP) last December launched a campaign to nominate al-Bashir for a third term.

Al-Bashir several times said that he would step down by the end of his current term in 2020. Even in November 2017, he went to declare his support for the candidacy of the governor of Gezira state Mohamed Tahir Ayala.

But observers more and more are inclined to believe that al-Bashir who is indicted by the International Criminal Court would run for a new term despite what he says.

(ST)