U.S. and European media

April 14, 2023

Reuters: Sudan ruling party offers opposition govt posts. Sudan's ruling party on Wednesday said it would invite opposition groups to join the government if it won the country's general elections, in an apparent bid to heal a rift over accusations of vote fraud. "If we are declared winners in the elections ... we would extend the invitation to all parties, even those who have not participated in the elections, to join the government because we believe this is a critical moment in our history," senior NCP official Ghazi Salaheddin told reporters.

Al Jazeera: Scam mars Darfur polls. (VIDEO) Election officials in Sudan have extended voting in presidential, parliamentary and local polls by two days, until Thursday. It is in response to problems, especially in the south, where ballots have not been delivered on time, and names have been left off electoral registers. Irregularities have also been reported in Sudan's western Darfur region. Two ruling party candidates have even disappeared following a scam, denting voter confidence. Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall reports from Darfur.

VOA: Women Voting in Large Numbers in Southern Sudan. As voting continues for a third day in Sudan's first multiparty elections in 24 years, women appear to have come out in huge numbers to participate in the elections. Analysts say the women's vote may be the determining factor in the outcome of the elections. Despite extreme logistical and organizational challenges facing the Sudanese elections, the women of Sudan appear to be more determined to have their voices heard in these landmark elections.

Reuters: Sudan elections show up deep divides. Sudan's elections were set up under a peace deal designed to unify the country -- but in Khartoum they are showing up the oil-producing nation's deep divides. In the centre of the desert capital, the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has rolled out a slick operation with video displays, banners, t-shirted volunteers and long lines of police and security officers outside polling stations voting en masse. Just forty minutes drive away from the centre a different scene is unfolding. Walking through the sprawling slums on the outskirts of Khartoum -- home to hundreds of thousands of refugees from the south, Darfur and other parts of Sudan's periphery -- you might not know the country was half way through its first multi party vote in almost a quarter of a century.

AFP: Chad-Sudan border reopens after seven years.  The border between Chad and Sudan has reopened seven years after the Darfur conflict forced its closure, Chadian officials said Tuesday, in another sign of improved relations between the former foes. "The border was opened Saturday and traffic is moving freely between the two countries," Hassan Ibrahim, a local offical in Adre, told AFP by telephone from the Chadian border town. The border decision was part of the accord signed in January normalising relations between Chad and Sudan, the official said.

Sudan Tribune: JEM directs heavy criticism at Darfur mediators and UNAMID. A senior official at the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) today slammed the Darfur mediation team and the United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) over a recent tour they made at IDP camps to pick representatives of civil society to join peace negotiations in the Arab Gulf state of Qatar.

The Darfur Daily News is a service of the Save Darfur Coalition. To subscribe to the Daily News, please email [email protected]. For media inquiries, please contact Ashley Roberts at (202) 478-6181, or [email protected].