KHARTOU
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry on Friday slammed the European Union's decision not to support the country's upcoming presidential elections, citing doubts over the polls' integrity.
"The ministry deeply regrets the European Union's deliberate distortion of Sudan's [political] trajectory," the Foreign Ministry asserted.
"The credibility of the Sudanese elections will be determined by the Sudanese people only," the ministry added, referring to polls slated for Monday.
The ministry said that political parties that had boycotted calls for national dialogue by President Omar al-Bashir "had no basis of support" in Sudan.
"The president's initiative for dialogue last year was welcomed by most political parties and civil society organizations, as well as large swathes of the population," the ministry stated.
Earlier Friday, the Foreign Ministry summoned EU envoy to Khartoum Tomas Ulicny and presented him with an official letter of objection to the EU's comments regarding the polls, ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadeq told The Anadolu Agency.
Al-Sadeq said the ministry's letter had included arguments in response to the EU's comments.
In a Thursday statement, the EU said it would not support Monday's presidential polls, which President al-Bashir is widely expected to win.
"The failure to initiate a genuine national dialogue one year after it was announced by the government of Sudan is a setback for the welfare of the people of Sudan," read the statement, which carried the signature of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini.
"When dialogue is bypassed, some groups are excluded and civil and political rights are infringed; the upcoming elections cannot produce a credible result with legitimacy throughout the country," Mogherini said.
She continued: "The people of Sudan deserve better. We therefore chose not to engage in support of these elections."
It is widely believed that al-Bashir, an Islamist leader who has ruled the country for 25 years, will win the elections, in which he will run against 15 little-known contestants amid a boycott by the country's largest opposition parties.
In February, Sudanese opposition parties launched a boycott campaign – dubbed "leave" – to protest Bashir's reelection bid.
Sudan's civil society coalition, which includes more than 50 civil society organizations, has also joined the boycott campaign.
Boycott campaigners have called on the government to postpone the elections until it can ensure an "inclusive atmosphere" for the polls.
This, say opposition leaders, would entail forming a transitional government to oversee the drafting of a new constitution that would include guarantees to free and fair elections.
International observers, including some from the European Union and the U.S.-based Carter Center, will not participate in the poll monitoring.
