June 17, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese electoral commission said that it will allow international monitors of the upcoming 2010 elections.
Abel Alier head of the body responsible for administering the elections process said that ensuring the fairness and integrity of the process one of the main goals of the commission.
Alier was addressing a conference in Khartoum that brought together heads of the electoral subcommittees and 155 senior officers in the regional commissions.
He told the participants that the elections process will be based on the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the 2005 Constitution and the 2008 national elections law as well as the procedures and rules developed by experts and approved by the commission.
The Sudanese will elect a national president, and a president for the semi-autonomous government in southern Sudan, the federal parliament and south Sudan assembly. The elections also include the states assemblies and governors.
Initially the presidential and parliamentary elections on national and state levels were supposed to be held before July 2009. But, Sudan electoral board decided to delay elections to February 2010, a decision justified by the needed preparations and some achievement of some crucial outstanding issues.
Alier expressed gratitude to the role played by the representative from the Office of Evaluation and assessment Dirbek Belembi, Laurie Kennedy head of electoral assistance at the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and Ashraf Qazi, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Sudan and the Ambassador of Italy.
“We look forward to provide a useful working papers from experts in this conference to achieve the desired benefit,” he said.
The deputy head of the commission Abdullah Ahmed said that the elections is a political and technical process on different levels that aim at establishing a democratic system that takes diversity into consideration.
Ahmed added that the board welcomes the principles of international monitoring to the regional and local elections so they can be a judge of the fairness, transparency and integrity of the process. However he stressed that only Sudan has authority over the elections.
Furthermore he said that the commission is working on establishing a media center and upgrading the performance of journalists adding that they are open to any assistance they can receive from abroad.
The CPA signed in January 9, 2005 was supposed to lead the country to the first free democratic elections still faces many hindrances and delays since the death of John Garang who was supposed to be its principal actor.
The outcome of the fifth census is now rejected by the SPLM which request a political agreement over the issue but the dominant National Congress Party (NCP) says that the southern Sudan ruling party has to accept the internationally monitored results.
Besides, the security law and Abyei issue, the North-South border still not defined. Boundaries delineation on paper could be done by September and on-the-ground demarcation by December.
Also the Darfur conflict that erupted since six years ago does not seem of a major concern for the SPLM which focuses its efforts in the 2011 referendum. However, many unresolved questions are raised over the participation of the displaced and the refugees in eastern Chad.
(ST)
حركة العدل و المساواة السودانية
موقع متخصص بنقل آخر الأخبار و البيانات و القرارات لحركة العدل و المساواة السودانية