Off the wire
• Israel PM speaks up against Iran nuclear deal  • Lithuania to reintroduce mandatory military service  • 1st LD Writethru: British FTSE 100 hits record high  • Roundup: Greece welcomes Eurogroup approval of list of reforms  • Spanish PM delivers triumphant speech before general election  • 2nd LD Writethru: British PM says no lethal weapons to arm Ukraine "at this stage"  • 3rd LD Writethru: Suicide bombers kill 12 at Nigerian bus station: police  • French president calls for release of hostage in Yemen "as soon as possible"  • Urgent: FTSE 100 hits record high  • Israel lauds U.S. court ruling over compensation for suicide attack victims  
You are here: 　 Home

Campaigns start for Sudan's presidential, legislative polls

Xinhua, February 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Campaigning for Sudan's April presidential and legislative polls kicked off on Tuesday, in which observers believe that President Omar al-Bashir would face little competition.

Al-Bashir's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) launched its first electoral campaign gathering on Tuesday, mainly addressing "the livelihood of the citizens and trying to reform the economic conditions," according to a NCP spokesman.

Though 44 political parties and 16 presidential candidates are running the election, al-Bashir is expected to face little competition, observers said.

"I don't think any candidate other than al-Bashir is capable of winning the presidential elections," said Abdul-Rahim Al-Sunni, a Sudanese political analyst. "Most of these candidates do not enjoy a partisan or popular support ... The Sudanese public barely knows some of them and there is no possibility for any surprise."

Sudanese opposition forces have recently launched a campaign to persuade citizens to boycott the elections, but the ruling NCP downplayed the move.

The presidential and legislative polls are scheduled for early April, but some Sudanese political opposition parties previously demanded that the elections be postponed and a transitional government be formed to resolve what they said a crisis in the country.

In 2010, the first multi-party elections in almost 24 years were held in Sudan, in which the ruling NCP, led al-Bashir, made a victory. April's elections will be the ninth of its kind in the country, which will be monitored by a number of Sudanese and foreign organizations. Endit