2015 Sudanese general election
General elections were held in Sudan on 13–16 April 2015 to elect the President and the National Assembly. They were originally scheduled for 2 April, but were delayed by eleven days.[1] These were the first elections to be held following the secession of South Sudan.[2]
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| Turnout | 46.40% | ||||||||||||||||
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Incumbent President Omar al-Bashir won the presidential election by a landslide,[3] amid a boycott from the majority of the opposition. The ruling National Congress of Sudan also won a majority in the 426 seat National Assembly.[4]
Electoral system
The President was elected using the two-round system; if no candidate gained a majority of the vote in the first round, a run-off would have been held.[5]
The 426 members of the National Assembly were elected by three methods; half were elected by majority voting in multi-member constituencies based on the 18 states and containing between two and 36 seats. 128 seats were reserved for women and elected by closed list proportional representation in a single national constituency, whilst a further 85 unreserved seats were elected by the same system.[6]
Conduct
Campaign
Incumbent President Omar al-Bashir was re-selected as the presidential candidate of the National Congress (NCP) in October 2014.[7] Fifteen other candidates registered to contest the elections, although they are relatively unknown.[8]
The majority of opposition parties were boycotting the elections, although a total of 44 parties put forward candidates. However, the ruling NCP opted not to field candidates in 30% of constituencies in order to allow other parties to win seats.[8]
Observers
Election observer missions (EOM) were deployed from the African Union (AU), Arab League, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC);[9] as well as from China, Russia and Turkey.[10][11]
The African Union's EOM was led by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. The AUEOM was "satisfied that voting went on peacefully" and noted that the country "still faces serious challenges to democracy building and national reconciliation". It concluded that the "results.. would reflect the expression of the will of the voters of Sudan".[12]
COMESA EOM noted that the "general environment within which the general elections were organized ha[d] remarkably been peaceful" and commended the Sudanese people. It also noted with concern that the "general elections were boycotted by several opposition political parties".[13]
Results
President
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omar al-Bashir | National Congress Party | 5,252,478 | 94.05 | |
| Fadl el-Sayed Shuaib | Federal Truth Party | 79,779 | 1.43 | |
| Fatima Abdel Mahmoud | Sudanese Socialist Democratic Union | 47,653 | 0.85 | |
| Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed | National Reform Party | 42,399 | 0.76 | |
| Abdul Mahmoud Abdul Jabar Rahamtalla | Union of the Nation's Forces | 41,134 | 0.74 | |
| Hamdi Hassan Ahmed | Independent | 18,043 | 0.32 | |
| Mohamed Ahmed Abdul Gadir Al Arbab | Independent | 16,966 | 0.30 | |
| Yasser Yahiya Salih Abdul Gadir | Independent | 16,609 | 0.30 | |
| Khairi Bakhit | Independent | 11,852 | 0.21 | |
| Adel Dafalla Jabir | Independent | 9,435 | 0.17 | |
| Mohamed Awad Al Barow | Independent | 9,388 | 0.17 | |
| Asad Al Nil Adel Yassin Al Saafi | Independent | 9,359 | 0.17 | |
| Alam Al Huda Ahmed Osman Mohamed Ali | Independent | 8,133 | 0.15 | |
| Ahmed Al Radhi Jadalla Salem | Independent | 7,751 | 0.14 | |
| Isaam Al Ghali Tajj Eddin Ali | Independent | 7,587 | 0.14 | |
| Omar Awad Al Karim Hussein Ali | Independent | 6,297 | 0.11 | |
| Total | 5,584,863 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 5,584,863 | 91.68 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 506,549 | 8.32 | ||
| Total votes | 6,091,412 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 13,126,989 | 46.40 | ||
| Source: NEC | ||||
National Assembly
| Party | Proportional | Reserved | Constituency | Total seats | +/– | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | ||||
| National Congress Party | 3,915,590 | 78.32 | 67 | 4,321,901 | 83.37 | 107 | 149 | 323 | 0 | |||
| Democratic Unionist Party–Original | 218,120 | 4.36 | 4 | 249,768 | 4.82 | 6 | 15 | 25 | +23 | |||
| Collective Leadership Umma Party | 214,531 | 4.29 | 4 | 2 | 6 | +5 | ||||||
| Democratic Unionist Party | 114,806 | 2.30 | 2 | 137,265 | 2.65 | 3 | 10 | 15 | +11 | |||
| Federal Umma Party | 79,292 | 1.59 | 1 | 107,102 | 2.07 | 3 | 3 | 7 | +4 | |||
| Freedom and Justice Party | 60,373 | 1.21 | 1 | 36,899 | 0.71 | 1 | 1 | 3 | – | |||
| United Umma Party | 49,923 | 1.00 | 1 | 63,770 | 1.23 | 2 | 1 | 4 | – | |||
| Umma Reform and Development Party | 35,309 | 0.71 | 1 | 45,199 | 0.87 | 1 | 3 | 5 | – | |||
| National Umma Party | 30,966 | 0.62 | 1 | 2 | 3 | +2 | ||||||
| Federal Truth Party | 30,254 | 0.61 | 1 | 33,046 | 0.64 | 1 | 0 | 2 | – | |||
| National Bond Party | 30,079 | 0.60 | 1 | 43,199 | 0.83 | 1 | 0 | 2 | – | |||
| National Freedom and Justice Party | 29,642 | 0.59 | 1 | 3 | 4 | – | ||||||
| Constitution Party | 27,466 | 0.55 | 0 | 39,783 | 0.77 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | |||
| Movement for Justice and Equality | 26,723 | 0.53 | 0 | 18,493 | 0.36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| National Reform Party | 25,990 | 0.52 | 0 | 30,107 | 0.58 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | |||
| Popular Forces for Rights and Democracy Movement | 23,089 | 0.46 | 0 | 27,260 | 0.53 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | |||
| Justice Party | 18,196 | 0.36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||
| National Movement for Peace and Development | 17,231 | 0.34 | 0 | 14,732 | 0.28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| Sudanese Socialist Democratic Union | 16,508 | 0.33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||
| People's Movement Party | 14,018 | 0.28 | 0 | 15,595 | 0.30 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | |||
| Sudanese National Front Party | 12,740 | 0.25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||
| Sudanese Socialist Union Party al-Maywa | 8,686 | 0.17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||
| Centre Party for Justice and Development | 1 | 1 | – | |||||||||
| General Federation of North and South Funj | 1 | 1 | – | |||||||||
| Ana al-Sudan | 1 | 1 | – | |||||||||
| Black Free | 1 | 1 | – | |||||||||
| Independents | 19 | 19 | +16 | |||||||||
| Total | 4,999,532 | 100.00 | 85 | 5,184,119 | 100.00 | 128 | 213 | 426 | –24 | |||
| Source: NEC | ||||||||||||
Reactions
On 9 April 2015, the European Union said that there was a "lack of a conducive environment for the upcoming elections" and that it was disappointed that the Sudanese government missed an opportunity "by not responding to the efforts by the African Union to bring all stakeholders together."[14]
On 20 April 2015; Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States issued a joint statement saying that the Sudanese Government failed "to create a free, fair, and conducive elections environment" and that the "outcome of these elections cannot be considered a credible expression of the will of the Sudanese people".[15][16][17] Following this statement, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors from these countries and condemned the statement as "erroneous information and prejudgment of the elections"; and also deemed it as "flagrant intervention in Sudan's internal affairs."[10] President Bashir labeled the critics as "colonialist parties".[18]
On 21 April 2015, the Sudanese Embassy in London issued a statement saying that other international bodies were clearly biased as they refused to even send their observers and "the claim that unrest in some isolated peripheries reduces the validity of elections does not hold water; because Northern Ireland suffered serious “troubles” for decades and that didn't stop UK elections."[2]
On 28 April 2015, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said that they respect "the choice made by the Sudanese people" and congratulated President Bashir on his re-election.[19]
President Bashir also received congratulatory messages from President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt,[20] King Abdullah of Jordan,[21] Emir Sabah of Kuwait,[22] Sultan Qaboos of Oman,[23] Emir Tamim of Qatar,[24] King Salman of Saudi Arabia[25] and President Khalifa al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates.[26]
References
- Sudan postpones April elections by 11 days: elections committee Reuters, 20 December 2014
- "Sudan's 2015 Elections: A huge step in democratic consolidation". sudantribune.com. Embassy of Sudan, London. 21 April 2015. Archived from the original on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "Omar al-Bashir wins Sudan elections by a landslide". BBC News. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- "Election results" (PDF) (in Arabic). NEC. 27 April 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-18. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- Election for President IFES
- Electoral system IPU
- Sudan's Bashir to seek re-election in 2015 Al Jazeera, 21 October 2014
- Sudan election: Will Bashir be snubbed by his people? BBC News, 13 April 2015
- "OIC observes Presidential and Legislative Elections in the Sudan". OIC. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "Sudan summons ambassadors of Britain, Norway, U.S. over elections criticism". Xinhuanet. 22 April 2015. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- al-Haj Hassan, Abdullah (25 April 2015). "West Unhappy About the Elections: What Do Others Say?". Sudan News Agency. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "AUEOM to Sudan" (PDF) (Press release). African Union. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
- "COMESA Election Observer Mission to the General Elections in the Republic of the Sudan" (Press release). COMESA. April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
- "Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the lack of a conducive environment for the upcoming elections in Sudan" (Press release). European Union. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-29.
- "Joint Statement on Elections in Sudan" (Press release). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Norway). 20 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-29.
- "Troika statement on elections in Sudan" (Press release). Foreign and Commonwealth Office. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-29.
- "Joint Statement on Elections in Sudan" (Press release). United States Department of State. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "Sudan's Bashir says foreign criticism will not affect polls". al Arabiya. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hong Lei's Regular Press Conference on April 28, 2015". Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-28.
- "Al-Sisi congratulates Al-Bashir on landslide election victory". Daily News. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "King congratulates Sudanese president on re-election". Jordan News Agency. 28 April 2015. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "His Highness Amir congratulates Sudanese President". Kuwait News Agency. 27 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "HM sends greetings to Sudan". Times of Oman. 28 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "HH the Emir Congratulates Sudanese President". Qatar News Agency. 27 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "Saudi King congratulates Sudanese President Bashir". Saudi Press Agency. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
- "President, VP, Mohamed bin Zayed congratulate al-Bashir on his re-election". Emirates News Agency. 28 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.