Presidential and parliamentary elections

The General Electoral Commission [GEC] chairman, Abd al-Mun’im al-Zayn al-Nahhas, has said that the preparations to hold presidential and parliamentary elections are complete in all the country’s states. He also announced that the election campaigns had ended at 7 p.m. (local time) on Tuesday, according to a report by Sudanese television. Nahhas went on to say that the elections would commence on Wednesday, as scheduled, and continue for 10 days, involving 10 million voters in 270 constituencies, the report said, quoting him as saying “special guarantees had been put in place to ensure that the polls were free and fair”. The report also quoted him as telling a delegation of election observers from the Arab League that “international observers had the freedom of movement to confirm that the polls were free and fair”. The BBC on Wednesday reported that the elections had commenced on schedule that day.