2010-04-12
KHARTOUM, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Monday welcomed the decision of the National Elections Commission (NEC) to extend the polling period of the general elections for two extra days.

"The decision supports the SPLM's earlier demand to extend the polling days," Susan Jambo, a senior official responsible for the SPLM election campaigns, told Xinhua in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan.

On Sunday, the SPLM demanded extension of the polling days due to mistakes which accompanied the first day of the process.

On whether the two days are enough to tackle the problems which accompanied the electoral process, Jambo said that "if the NEC increased the number of the polling officials and their capabilities during the two days, the situation can improve."

"It is necessary for the NEC to conduct an investigation into the problems which occurred during the first and second days of the polling, particularly in Kaboita where the ballot box of southern Sudan government and the legislative council was not brought," she added.

She further demanded the NEC to increase the voters' lists at the polling stations and direct the voters to the centers where their names are, so that they could easily cast their votes.

The NEC made the extension decision on Monday, saying its decision was based on objective justifications and meant to enable the voters to cast their votes easily and to compensate for the time loss caused by the delay due to technical and administrative errors that accompanied the process.