Sudan's Bashir casts vote in general elections

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir on Monday cast his vote in the country's presidential and legislative elections at a polling station in central Khartoum.

After casting his vote at the polling station of San Francis School in Khartoum, Bashir raised his index finger, which was soaked with the electoral ink, hailing his supporters and saying "Allahu Akbar."

Forty-five political parties, most of them small ones, are taking part in the three-day electoral race, while 16 candidates, including Bashir, are running for the post of president.

Earlier on Monday, voters started casting their ballots to elect a president and members of the national and state parliaments amid boycott by most of the opposition parties.

About 13.6 million registered voters around the country will cast their ballots at 7,000 polling stations.

A total of 1,072 candidates are running for the seats of the national parliament and 2,235 others for the state legislative seats.

The elections will run till Wednesday while a vote count is set to begin the next day. The final results of the elections are scheduled to be announced on April 27.

Regional organizations such as the African Union, the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development in Africa (IGAD) and the Arab League are monitoring the elections.

On Friday, the European Union (EU) announced that it would not take part in monitoring Sudan's general elections.

"The failure to initiate a genuine national dialogue one year after it was announced by the government of Sudan is a setback for the welfare of the people of Sudan," EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

"When dialogue is bypassed, some groups are excluded and civil and political rights are infringed, the upcoming elections cannot produce a credible result with legitimacy throughout the country," the statement added. Endit