Activities of the Japanese Election Observation Team for the General Elections in Sudan
The Japanese Election Observation Team, headed by Mr. Yuichi Ishii, former Ambassador of Japan to Sudan, and composed of sixteen members, was dispatched from 5 to 19 April 2010 for the general elections in Sudan. The Team visited 156 polling centers in total in the capital city Khartoum, Juba in the South and El Fashir in the Darfur region.
Note: General Elections in Sudan
Voting for the elections of the President of the Government of National Unity, the President of the Government of Southern Sudan and the State Governors, as well as the members of the National Assembly, the Southern Sudan Assembly and the State Assemblies, was conducted from 11 to 15 April 2010 throughout Sudan including the Darfur region. The general elections, together with a referendum on the status of the South scheduled for January 2011, are regarded as an important event in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
1. Activities of the Team
The Team conducted two main activities: seeking and exchanging of views with political parties and other stakeholders, and actual observation of the voting and counting processes.
(1) The Team had meetings with representatives of a variety of stakeholders, including the National Election Commission of Sudan (NEC), political parties such as the ruling National Congress Parties (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), other election observation missions such as the European Union and the League of Arab States, and UN bodies such as UNMIS and UNAMID, among others, in order to seek their views and exchange opinions with them.
Meeting with NEC Chair Alier and Vice-Chair Abdalla
Meeting with EU Observer Mission Chief De Keyser
Meeting with NCP representatives
Meeting with SPLM representative
(2) The Team also conducted observation activities in the voting process from 11 to 15 April and the subsequent counting work. The Team, while affirming that there were many technical, administrative and substantive problems during the electoral process, appreciated that the voting and counting were conducted generally in a peaceful manner throughout the country without major violent incidents.
Voters awaiting their turn to vote
Observation activities in Juba (left) and El Fashir
Observation of voting and counting
2. Remarks of the Head and Report to the NEC
The Head of the Team issued his remarks (Japanese [PDF]
, English [PDF] and Arabic[PDF]] ) following the voting of the elections. The Team also submitted its report to the NEC (English [PDF], Arabic [PDF] and Japanese [PDF]) upon the conclusion of its activities.
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