SUDAN: Voter registration began in Sudan this week ahead of next year's presidential vote

Record ID: 328349

  • Title: SUDAN: Voter registration began in Sudan this week ahead of next year's presidential vote
  • Date: 30th October 2014
  • Summary: HEGLIG, SUDAN (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PRESIDENT BASHIR COMING OUT OF A SMALL AEROPLANE AND WAVING CANE IN THE AIR
  • Embargoed: 14th November 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sudan
  • Country: Sudan
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8Y58BQ1W4H6H8BVYH0ZJP19HH
  • Story Text: Sudan began registration on Tuesday for its first elections since the south of the country won independence.
    The National Election Commission said it hoped to attract wider participation this time round, with registration open for the next two weeks.
    The number of eligible voters at the last presidential elections was 19.8 million, according to official figures. About 10 million people, or just over half, cast their ballots then.
    "At this moment 7,033 centres have been launched in all the 18 states of Sudan. Those centres have the voters' register, which contains 11,600,000 voters names registered since the 2010 elections. Those names have been published for addition, omission or any challenges within the next two weeks," said Mukhtar al-Asim, president of NEC.
    Many voters however, said they would ignore polls they believe are guaranteed to extend the 25-year rule of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
    Wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, Bashir had promised to step down in April's presidential and parliamentary elections.
    But the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) named him on Saturday as its presidential candidate, dashing hopes that the vote would mark a new start for a country facing diplomatic isolation, economic sanctions and armed insurrection in five provinces.
    Bashir, a former military commander who rules in an alliance with hardline Islamists, has contested three elections since coming to power in 1989.
    He won 68 percent of the vote in the last polls in 2010, according to government figures, though international monitors cast doubt on the fairness of that election.
    With the three main opposition parties boycotting the elections along with smaller liberal and communist parties, many are asking whether anyone but Bashir can win the presidency.
    "We are following the same track of 2010 election, which means rigging will take place in order to reproduce the regime and give it electoral legitimacy. We will not run the election race but we will struggle to topple the existing regime," said Sudanese Communist Party Secretary-General Mohammed Mukhtar al-Khateeb.
    Candidate registration will take place at the end of December, when it will become clearer who will participate.
    This time, the economy will play a much bigger role for those who choose to go to the polls. Sudan's economy has been in free fall since the oil-rich southern third of the country seceded in 2011 and the government has slashed services and subsidies as its foreign exchange reserves shrink.
    With inflation at 40 percent, voters are concerned with finding jobs and feeding their families.
    Some Sudanese, alarmed by the chaos that has engulfed Libya and Syria, say they would prefer stagnation under Bashir to an unknown future if he stepped aside.
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