The National Assembly on 21 November unanimously passed the Elections Act despite a boycott of the session by a parliamentary bloc which is part of the government. Representatives of political parties that are party to the national dialogue such as the Popular Congress Party (PCP), Reform Now Party and the independents have walked out of the session amid boycott of other political forces of the deliberations.

Parliament member (PCP) Mr. Kamal Omer, in statement to Al Taghyeer newspaper has attributed the reasons of the boycott to the fact that flaws in the law such as duration of voting, electoral roll and election of governors of States could lead to elections rigging, hoping the law would be adopted by consensus.

In the same context, some observers have questioned the utility of the elections process given the prevailing political and legal environment dominated by the ruling National Congress Party.

Sudan organized several rounds of elections since the coup d’état on 30 June 1989 and all won by the ruling party, keeping Al Bashir in power.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that: “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.

Source: altaghyeer