• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Sudan Elections - April 2010

National elections took place from April 11-15, 2010, the first multiparty elections in 24 years. The elections were largely peaceful. However, there were widespread irregularities reported during the polling and counting periods, as well as serious restrictions on political space in both north and south leading up to and during the elections. The NCP and SPLM won the overwhelming majority of the electoral races, and incumbent presidents were elected for the Government of Sudan and the semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan. The elections, which several opposition parties boycotted, did not meet international standards. Observers reported restriction of civil liberties, intimidation, threats of violence, lack of transparency in vote tabulation, and other problems.

The Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) candidate for president of Sudan, Yasir Arman, withdrew from the race just before the polling. The elections, which several opposition parties boycotted, did not meet international standards. Basic freedoms were circumscribed throughout the process. Despite significant technical and material assistance from the international community, logistical preparations were inadequate. Intimidation and threats of violence occurred. The conflict in Darfur did not permit a tranquil electoral environment. The counting and tabulation process was disorganized, not transparent, and did not follow procedural safeguards put in place by the National Elections Commission. According to a foreign NGO, problems with the counting and tabulation process raised “questions about the accuracy of the election results.”

The president was reelected, as was first vice president (SPLM head and later government of South Sudan president) Salva Kiir Mayardit. Ali Osman Taha was reappointed to his position of second vice president. After the secession of South Sudan in July 2011, the post of first vice president was vacant until Ali Osman Taha assumed it in September 2011. El-Haj Adam Yousif, an NCP member from South Darfur, was appointed as the second vice president.

In the National Assembly, the NCP won 323 seats, the SPLM 99, and other parties and independents 24 seats. The seats in four constituencies were vacant. NCP gubernatorial candidates won all elected governor posts with the exception of Blue Nile State, where the SPLM-N incumbent won. However, immediately after the start of hostilities in Blue Nile in 2011, Khartoum deposed the state’s SPLM-N governor and installed a temporary military government. Observers noted numerous problems with the preelection environment. The legal framework did not protect basic freedoms such as assembly, speech, and press. Security forces restricted the actions of opposition parties, including through the arrest of opposition members and supporters. There was insufficient voter information, and logistical preparations for the vote were not adequate.

The national- and state-level executive and legislative elections, held in 2010, did not meet international standards. Basic freedoms were circumscribed throughout the process. Despite significant technical and material assistance from the international community, logistical preparations were inadequate. Intimidation and threats of violence occurred. The conflict in Darfur did not permit a tranquil electoral environment. The counting and tabulation process was disorganized, not transparent, and did not follow procedural safeguards put in place by the National Elections Commission.

In 2010, prior to the secession of South Sudan, there were 450 seats in the National Assembly. The NCP won 323 seats, the SPLM 99, and other parties and independents 24 seats. The seats in four constituencies were vacant. NCP candidates won all elected governor posts with the exception of Blue Nile, where the SPLM/N incumbent won. Immediately after the start of hostilities in Blue Nile in 2011, however, Khartoum deposed the state’s SPLM/N governor and installed a temporary military government. Observers noted numerous problems with the pre-election environment. The legal framework did not protect basic freedoms such as assembly, speech, and press. Security forces restricted the actions of opposition parties, including through the arrest of opposition members and supporters. There was insufficient voter information, and logistical preparations for the vote were not adequate.

The National Election Commission identified key electoral reform proposals following the conclusion of the 2010 national elections and a contentious and close election for the governorship of Southern Kordofan in 2011. However, at year’s end none of these proposals had been implemented. Official reluctance to implement reforms before the national election, expected in 2015, probably explained much of the delay, and authorities prevented SuGDE--a network of Sudanese civil society organizations working in the area of electoral reform and administration--from holding a conference in Burj to discuss some of these changes.