International observers endorse outcome of South Kordofan polls
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May 20, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The US-based Carter Center has given a seal
of credibility to the outcome of contentious elections in North
Sudan’s state of South Kordofan, dousing claims by the opposition
Sudan People’s liberation Movement (SPLM) that the vote was rigged in
favor of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).
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An international election observer from the Carter Center stands
outside a polling centre during the second voting day in Kadugli, in
Southern Kordofan May 3, 2011 (REUTERS PICTURES)
According to the Carter Center, which has the largest international
observation mission on the ground, the elections in South Kordofan
were “generally peaceful and credible” despite “a climate of
heightened insecurity and instances of procedural irregularities.”
In a statement released on Thursday, the Carter Center said it “did
not observe systemic irregularities that would invalidate the
results," which declared that the NCP’s candidate Ahmad Harun – a man
wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes
allegedly committed in Sudan’s western region of Darfur - won the
state governor elections by 6,500 votes over his closest challenger,
SPLM’s candidate Abdul Aziz al-Hilu.
The SPLM, which controls the soon-to-be independent region of South
Sudan, withdrew from the vote at the stage of result aggregation,
citing claims of spotting a “bogus” polling site and accusing the
National Elections Commission, which organized the exercise, of
complicity with the NCP in rigging the vote.
But the Carter Center said that voting and counting had been conducted
in a transparent way and under scrutiny of the main parties.
South Kordofan elections were postponed from April 2010 as Sudan held
nationwide elections due to disagreements over the 2008 census and
delimitation of geographic constituency. The long-delayed legislative
and gubernatorial elections were largely peaceful despite instances of
violence in the run-up to the vote.
The flashpoint state is important to Khartoum because it contains
oilfields and neighbors the hotly-contested region of Abyei as well as
the war-battered western region of Darfur.
Sudan’s general elections in April 2010, which were marred by mass
fraud and opposition boycotts, saw president Al-Bashir and his ruling
NCP reelected in north Sudan while the SPLM consolidated its
domination over the south.
(ST)
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