Sudan faces election delay

Khartoum - Parliamentary and presidential elections, Sudan's first democratic national vote in more than 20 years, could face a fresh delay after already being pushed back to February next year, a senior Sudanese official said.

The elections are a key part of a fragile 2005 peace deal that ended more than 20 years of north-south fighting with a promise of democracy. The voting was originally scheduled for July, before a referendum on southern independence in 2011.

The deputy chairperson of the National Elections Commission, Abdullah Ahmed Abdulla, told Reuters the commission was behind schedule because of delays in announcing results of a vital census and in setting up election committees in states.

"We are considering a modification, an adjustment of our old timeframe to accommodate the delays that have taken place," Abdulla said on Tuesday, adding it would "not be very much of a delay".

Abdulla did not suggest any new timeframe but said voter registration - originally set for June - would now likely start in November after disruptive rains have finished.

"Some of the intervals and the stages are dictated by law so you cannot accelerate the stages," he added.

The north-south deal gave the south a semi-autonomous government, headed by the former rebel party, shares in oil wealth as well as cabinet and parliamentary seats in the national government.

When the north-south deal was reached in 2005, the United States, Kenya and other brokers behind the deal saw fair elections as a way to encourage southerners to back unity.

Source:http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_Africa&set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=nw20090610095051410C706709