U.S. and European media

April 7, 2023

Reuters: South Sudan party to boycott elections in north. South Sudan's main party said on Tuesday it would boycott elections in most states in northern Sudan, in a further blow to the poll already hit by accusations of fraud less than a week ahead of voting. "We announce the SPLM (Sudan People's Liberation Movement) boycott of all the elections in the north on all levels ... in 13 states of the north," party secretary general Pagan Amum told reporters, saying the decision excluded the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

AFP: Sudan vote at stake as ex-rebels extend boycott. The credibility of Sudan's first general elections in two decades has been thrown into further doubt following a boycott by the ex-rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement of the vote in the north. The April 11-13 presidential, legislative and local elections, the first in Sudan since 1986, are a prelude to a referendum on southern independence scheduled for January 2011.

AFP: EU observers consider quitting Darfur. European Union election monitors in Sudan are considering pulling out of the war-torn Darfur region because of concerns over security, the mission's head said on Wednesday. "If I feel that security conditions are not guaranteed -- not just for the observers but for the people of Darfur -- and if I am not certain these elections will allow for credible monitoring, I will not observe them," Veronique de Keyser told AFP from Darfur's capital el-Fasher.

AFP: Beshir to grant election observers unlimited access. Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir said on Wednesday he would grant former US president Jimmy Carter and his election observers unlimited access in the country during landmark elections that kick off Sunday. "In two days, president Carter will arrive and I will receive him and will give him and his centre permission to go to any area of Sudan and to monitor any area in Sudan," Beshir told a rally north of Sudan, as the election campaign begins to wind down.

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