Nairobi/Khartoum (Earth Times) - Polling stations opened Sunday for the country's first parliamentary and presidential elections since the end of a bloody civil war five years ago, which pitted the north against the south.
Southern Sudan, which enjoys autonomy, also elects its own president and parliament.
Some 16.5 million voters have registered for the elections, which are overshadowed by a boycott of opposition parties over fears of vote-rigging and international criticism.
Polling stations in Sudan's 25 provinces are open from 8 am (0500 GMT) to 6 pm from Sunday to Tuesday, owing to the size and bad infrastructure in Africa's largest country. Results are expected for April 18.
The polls are to be the first multiparty elections since 1986 and are supposed to usher in a new era of democracy in Sudan, which is recovering from a decades-long civil war between the mainly Muslim north and Christian and Animist south, as well as conflict in the western province of Darfur.
The re-election of controversial President Omar al-Bashir seems almost certain after almost all opposition candidates pulled out.
Al-Bashir, who seized power in a bloodless 1989 coup, has repeatedly refused to give in to opposition demands for a delay and continues to claim the polls are credible.
Security has been a major concern and human rights groups reported attempts to harass and obstruct opposition campaigns.
Most of the estimated 2.6 million internally displaced living in camps in Darfur have not been registered to vote and many observers say the polls in the province have already been rigged in favor of al-Bashir and his ruling National Congress Party (NCP) through gerrymandering, bribery and manipulation of census figures.
Southern Sudan, which enjoys autonomy, also elects its own president and parliament.
Some 16.5 million voters have registered for the elections, which are overshadowed by a boycott of opposition parties over fears of vote-rigging and international criticism.
Polling stations in Sudan's 25 provinces are open from 8 am (0500 GMT) to 6 pm from Sunday to Tuesday, owing to the size and bad infrastructure in Africa's largest country. Results are expected for April 18.
The polls are to be the first multiparty elections since 1986 and are supposed to usher in a new era of democracy in Sudan, which is recovering from a decades-long civil war between the mainly Muslim north and Christian and Animist south, as well as conflict in the western province of Darfur.
The re-election of controversial President Omar al-Bashir seems almost certain after almost all opposition candidates pulled out.
Al-Bashir, who seized power in a bloodless 1989 coup, has repeatedly refused to give in to opposition demands for a delay and continues to claim the polls are credible.
Security has been a major concern and human rights groups reported attempts to harass and obstruct opposition campaigns.
Most of the estimated 2.6 million internally displaced living in camps in Darfur have not been registered to vote and many observers say the polls in the province have already been rigged in favor of al-Bashir and his ruling National Congress Party (NCP) through gerrymandering, bribery and manipulation of census figures.
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