SUDAN
Parliamentary Chamber: Majlis Watani

ELECTIONS HELD IN 1996

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Chamber:
  Majlis Watani


Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):

  2 March 1996
17 March 1996


Purpose of elections:

  Elections were held for all the seats of the new Parliament provided for in the Thirteenth Constitutional Decree (Organs of the Federal Government) 1995.


Background and outcome of elections:

  General elections had not been held since the June 1989 military Coup d'Etat which resulted, among other things, in dissolution of the National Assembly elected three years earlier. In February 1992, a 300-member Transitional National Assembly was appointed to act as the lawmaking body.

On 23 January 1996, presidential and parliamentary elections were scheduled simultaneously for March. Due to logistical problems, voting was to be held over a two-week period. Of the new National Assembly's 400 members, 125 had previously been chosen by a national conference in February. Some 900 candidates vied for the remaining 275 seats, although 51 of these were uncontested. In the presidential race, there were 40 challengers to the incumbent Head of State, Lt-Gen. Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, who had taken power in 1989. All candidates ran in an individual capacity. The campaign lasted 12 days. Opposition groups urged a boycott of the polling, deeming the proceedings unfair.

Due to the civil war in the southern part of the country, where the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) battled government forces, no voting took place in 11 districts. According to final results in the remaining constituencies, President al-Bashir and his supporters scored clear victories. On 23 March, the President declared that Sudan would continue to be guided by Islamic orientation, with no return to party politics, during his new five-year term.

The newly elected Parliament first met on 1 April, when Mr. Hassan Al-Turabi - who was widely regarded as the power figure in the Bashir administration - was elected Speaker. He announced that the National Assembly would shortly draft a new permanent Constitution. On 21 April, a new Cabinet was formed.

STATISTICS
Round no 1 (March 1996): Elections results  
Number of registered electors 10,000,000 (approx)
Voters 5,525,280

Comments:
  There are no political parties in Sudan

Distribution of seats according to sex:  
Men: 379
Women: 21


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Copyright © 1996 Inter-Parliamentary Union