20100403
ALALAM

Sudan's elections commission on Saturday said the nation's elections would go ahead on time despite opposition's calls for a four-week delay.

"The National Elections Commission (NEC) is working to have the elections on the dates we specified on April 11, 12, 13," deputy head of the NEC, Abdallah Ahmed Abdallah, told reporters after meeting US envoy Scott Gration.

"The NEC confirmed to Gration that it had completed all the necessary procedures to have the elections on the specified dates," he added.

Umma head Sadeq al-Mahdi listed eight demands including a four-week delay to be agreed to before April 6, or his party would boycott all parts of the presidential, legislative and gubernatorial votes.

The Umma party leader said on Friday Gration had told him he would try to achieve the four-week delay. He flew into Khartoum after the opposition boycott threats.

Washington acknowledges problems with the process, but wants the polls to happen on time, to allow work to begin on preparing for a southern referendum on secession in January 2011.

The State Department said Gration would continue to press for maximum participation in the polls.

On Saturday, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir told a campaign rally in the eastern town of Kassala there would be no delay.