KHARTOUM
Chief of Sudan's National Election Commission Mukhtar al-Assam said Tuesday that the turnout in last week's general elections reached 42 percent, excluding data from five Sudanese states.
"This turnout exceeds the world average, and it is higher than turnouts in the U.S. and Britain," al-Assam was quoted as saying by Sudan's official press agency.
"The elections were managed independently by the National Election Commission, which also managed the 2010 elections that were said to have been carried out with integrity by the U.S., Britain and Norway," he added.
Earlier Tuesday, Sudan's Foreign Ministry summoned the envoys of Britain, Norway, the U.S. and the EU to protest their criticism of the polls, which were held last week.
The EU had issued a statement noting that Sudan's elections were conducted in "an unfavorable environment" and saw that that their outcome "could never be legitimate."
The Troika – the U.S., Norway and Britain – also said that the Sudanese polls did not reflect the will of the people.
Al-Assam said "all observers – including those of the African Union, Arab League, China, Russia, Latin America and local ones – attested to the integrity and neutrality of the electoral process."
On Thursday, the commission announced that final poll results would be announced on April 27.
The election, which kicked off Monday, was initially scheduled to end on Wednesday, but the commission extended the vote for an additional day – to Thursday – due to low turnout on the first three days.
The elections were dogged by logistic, administrative and security difficulties, according to the electoral commission.
Some 13 million Sudanese were eligible to vote in the polls, which incumbent President Omar al-Bashir, who has ruled the country for over 25 years, is expected to win.
Voters also elected 425 members of parliament and 2,235 members of state legislative assemblies.
Many opposition parties had boycotted the vote.
