20100401
PRESS TV

Sudan's main opposition parties announce a total boycott of this month's presidential, legislative and regional elections, raising further questions about the polls' fairness.

After the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, southern Sudan's main political party, withdrew its candidate Yasir Arman on Wednesday nearly all opposition parties followed suit and pulled out of the April 11-13 presidential election the following day.

The SPLM said that Arman — considered President Umar al-Bashir's main rival — would not stand due to irregularities and insecurity in the restive Darfur region.

Officials said on Thursday that head of the Umma Party Sadiq al-Mahdi, Communist party chief Ibrahim Nugud, and Hatem al-Sir from the Democratic Unionist Party have all withdrawn from the elections.

The boycott was announced after crisis talks in Khartoum's sister city of Omdurman, hosted by US envoy Scott Gration, failed to convince the Sudanese government to reschedule the vote for a later date.

The Sudanese politicians have cited fears of vote rigging and insecurity for their decision in the country's first multiparty elections since 1986.

The boycott is expected to undermine the ongoing peace process between Sudan's government and the opposition.

However, Bashir has vowed to press on with the elections and on Monday threatened to cancel a referendum on independence for the south should opposition parties boycott the elections.