Khartoum, November 03: The US-based Carter Centre, which has been charged with monitoring preparations for Sudanese elections next April, criticised the Khartoum authorities on Tuesday for impeding poll observers.
The Carter Centre “expressed concerns about the obstacles facing election observers, including delays in finalising their accreditation procedures and delays in election preparations, as well as continued reports of harassment of political party and civil society activity.”
Sudanese began registering on Sunday for the country’s first presidential, parliamentary and regional elections in 24 years.
The Carter Centre in a statement said that the government needed to do more to inform the 20 million eligible voters about the registration process, particularly in the provinces.
It called on both the National Congress Party of President Omar al-Beshir and the southern former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement to reach agreement as soon a possible on key outstanding issues.
In particular it urged the two sides to draw up enabling legislation for a promised referendum on independence for the south that is due in 2011.
The Carter Centre also voiced concern about the impact of the continuing conflict in the western region of Darfur on preparations for the elections there.
“In Darfur, the continuing state of emergency means that a free and open electoral process remains difficult to contemplate, and state elections committees and state security agencies must promote a more open and free political environment,” it said.
“Technical preparations for elections must also be accompanied by shifts in national political and security arrangements, such as the lifting of the state of emergency in Darfur and the disarmament and civilian reintegration of unauthorized militias and proxy forces.”
The Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003, when rebels took up arms against the government in Khartoum and its allies.
Over the last six years, the rebels have fractured into multiple movements, fraying rebel groups, banditry, flip-flopping militias and the war has widened into overlapping tribal conflicts.
The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease and more than 2.7 million fled their homes.
Many of the rebels enjoy direct and indirect foreign support that helped fuel the conflict, with some critics pointing the finger at France, which has a military presence in neighbouring Chad – also accused of arming the Sudanese rebels. France had been accused of involvement in the genocide in Rwanda, but Paris denied responsibility, conceding only that ‘political’ errors were made.
—IANS