Tuesday March 23, 2010
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, favoured for re-election, has threatened to kick out foreign election monitors for suggesting next month's vote be delayed. Saying: "we will cut off their fingers and crush them under our shoes". The Carter centre, funded by the US, suggested the postponement of the April 11 elections—the poll will be the first genuinely multi-party vote since 1986—over security concerns. Though the recent call was made by Crater centre, opposition politicians have repeatedly suggested that the election should be put back amid chronic instability in the south and a continuing refugee crisis in the Darfur region. The Carter Centre, which runs the only long-term monitoring mission in the country, said last week that the poll was "at risk on multiple fronts". "Logistical preparations are straining the limited capacity of the NEC [National Election Commission]," the centre said. "With a series of delays and changes in polling procedures, a minor delay in polling for operational purposes may be required." Concerns were also muted by Human Rights Watch, which said on Sunday that government repression of its opponents and its tight control of the media was threatening chances of holding a credible election. An allegation the NEC denied, saying that the election will go ahead as planned. Mr Bashir told his supporters in the eastern town of Port Sudan: "We have accepted the arrival of foreign observers for the elections, but if they ask that the vote be postponed, we will expel them. "We expect observers to say whether the elections are free and fair, but if they intervene in our affairs, then we will cut off their fingers and crush them under our shoes." Mr Bashir, who is wanted by international prosecutors for war crimes in Darfur, seized power in a bloodless coup in 1989 and has been elected as president twice in polls which were boycotted by most opposition parties. He remains popular in the north of the country and is expected to be re-elected as president.
|
|
 |