CIAO DATE: 04/2011
January 2011
The April 2010 elections in Sudan were mandated by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). They were intended to be instrumental in setting the stage for the referendum and corresponding negotiations and were envisioned as a critical part of a broader democratic transformation. In the period between the CPA’s signing and the holding of the national elections, political rights and freedoms were circumscribed, placing limits on political parties and civil society and fostering distrust between the ruling parties and the opposition in the North and South that was to prove central in undermining the inclusiveness and credibility of the elections. The 2010 elections provided limited but important opportunities for opposition parties and civil society to engage in the political process and reconnect with their bases. The opposition parties in the North criticized the voter registration process and demanded a series of other reforms, including repeal of restrictive security laws, the end of National Congress Party (NCP) domination of the state media, review of the boundary decisions of the geographical constituencies, and restructure of the National Elections Commission (NEC). The refusal of the Government of National Unity (GNU) and the NEC to meet these demands or to seriously engage with the parties led most of the Northern opposition to launch full or partial boycotts of the election. The failure by the central government to advance democratic conditions sufficiently and guarantee political rights and freedoms at the start of the elections, coupled with the opposition boycott, resulted in an atmosphere of distrust among the major political parties and an election in the North that was not very competitive.
Resource link: Final Report: Observing Sudan's 2010 National Elections, April 11–18, 2010 [PDF] - 6.3M