Sudanese take to the polls in landmark elections

Khartoum (Agencies) Sudanese were voting on Sunday in the country’s first multi-party elections since 1986, but the polls have been marred by an opposition boycott and accusations of fraud.

Polling stations opened on schedule in Khartoum at 08:00 (0500 GMT) but election organizers in several areas were still unwrapping ballot boxes as queues began to form, an AFP correspondent said.
In the southern capital of Juba, doors opened on time, but minor logistical problems forced southern leader to Salva Kiir to delay casting his ballot.
More than 16 million registered voters are asked to vote in over 10,700 polling stations for their president as well as legislative and local representatives. Southern Sudanese will also vote for the leader of the semi-autonomous government of south Sudan.
President Omar al-Bashir, who has ruled Africa’s largest country since 1989 when he came to power in a military coup backed by Islamists, is expected to secure a comfortable win after the pullout of his key challengers.
Yasser Arman, a northern Muslim representing the former southern rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, and Sadiq al-Mahdi of the Umma Party both withdrew from the race before polling day.
They accuse Bashir of fraud and say free and fair conditions for the elections are not in place, particularly in Darfur, the western region under a state of emergency since civil war broke out seven years ago.
Darfur rebel movements, who control parts of the vast region, firmly rejected the elections but have so far not stated any intentions to derail the process.

Fiercely competitive

While the result of the presidential poll holds little suspense, elections for parliamentary and local representatives are still fiercely competitive in many parts of the country.
Election organizers rushed on Saturday to get ballot papers to remoter parts of the country.
Sixteen airplanes, 16 helicopters and more than 2,000 vehicles have been mobilized in the past two weeks to transport ballot boxes around the country.
President Bashir also deployed 100,000 police across northern Sudan to guard the polling stations and ward off unrest during three days of voting.
“I hope that it will be completely compatible with international standards, and safe and free and fair, and that the decision of individual voters will be expressed freely without intimidation,” said former U.S. president Jimmy Carter whose Carter Centre is monitoring the vote.
These are “very troubled potential times (and) we hope it will be safe and free,” Carter said.
“We know that there are no perfect elections, and these polls will not be an exception to that rule,” said Abdallah Ahmed Abdallah, a top official at Sudan’s electoral commission.
“These elections will not suddenly transform Sudan into a democratic society. That will take time and experience.”
Carter said on Friday that he expected polling to proceed without major hurdles, although some delays could be expected in more remote areas.
“We see no reasons for any concern except on a few isolated stations way out,” said the former U.S. leader.
Voting materials “may get there a bit late, but they will have three days at least in which to vote,” he told reporters in the capital.
In the run-up to the elections, opposition parties accused Bashir’s ruling National Congress of fraud, particularly when the contract for ballot papers was given to a state-owned printer arousing suspicions of potential ballot stuffing.

Source: Al Arabia