Youths urge opposition to show poll unity

Khartoum: Discontented young Sudanese are campaigning for change in what will be for many the first multi-party elections in their lifetime, urging the opposition to unite against President Omar Hassan Al Bashir.

"We're fed up!" read thousands of bright orange leaflets appearing all over the capital, in defiance of a long-standing ban on anti-government papers by the government which took power in a coup more than 20 years ago.

Groups of young Sudanese, forming on the internet and on the streets, are calling on the splintered opposition to unite at all levels of the elections, presidential and parliamentary, against the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

Some youths distribute leaflets under the radar, throwing them onto buses before running off. A supporter of one group, Girifna, has already been arrested. Others work in the open, saying they are exercising their constitutional rights.

"I'm only worried that they would take away my leaflets, not that anything might happen to me," said 21-year-old student Siraj Omar, a founder of Girifna, which means "We're fed up."

Members contribute money for the printing with some help from Sudanese expatriates, so every last piece of paper is valuable.

"Everything I have is hanging on this election," said Omar.

Threats

Opposition parties say they have suffered threats from Al Bashir's government over the years and many of his opponents have fled the country. They say his party committed widespread rights violations and atrocities throughout the country.

The NCP has somewhat relaxed its hardline policies in recent years and says its achievements include peace deals in the south, west and east as well as overseeing economic growth.

Taking advantage of a glimmer of democratic change after a 2005 north-south peace agreement ended emergency law and decades of civil war, the groups mostly share one aim: to remove Al Bashir's government peacefully and legally. "One candidate for one nation," runs the slogan of one group, "Khalas!", the Arabic for "Enough!" in Sudanese dialect.

"Multiple candidacies pose a tremendous loophole and leave the door open for the NCP candidates to triumph," it says.

Scheduled for April, Sudan's first multi-party elections in 24 years have already been marred by accusations of electoral fraud including vote buying and intimidation as people began to register to vote on November 1.

The NCP has denied fraud and condemned the leaflet campaigns. "This is all being done by the opposition parties to defame the NCP," said senior party official Mandour Al Mahdi.

Opposition parties have criticised the elections commission for an information blackout.

But grassroots campaigners say the parties themselves appear unprepared while the NCP is campaigning by organising tents and delegates at almost every registration centre.