News Article by REUTERS posted on December 30, 2000 at 13:18:35: EST (-5 GMT)
Bashir declared winner of Sudan presidential poll by 86.5 percent
KHARTOUM, Dec 30 (Reuters) - President Lieutenant General
Omar Hassan
al-Bashir has won Sudan's Presidential elections by
a wide margin, the
General Elections Authority chairman Abdel
Monein al-Zein al-Nahas announced.
Nahas said on state television on Friday that Bashir had
scored 86.5
percent while his nearest rival, former President
Jaafar Mohamed Nimeiri, had
gained 9.6 percent of the vote.
Of the other three candidates, Mahmoud Jiha received one
percent, Samoual
Malik 1.3 percent and Malik Hussein 1.6
percent.
Bashir had been expected to be reelected by a large margin
for a second,
and last, five-year term.
Bashir got the highest number of votes, 100 percent, in
Warab state in
southern Sudan, and obtained the lowest number of
votes, 50.4 percent, in the
Blue Nile state in northern Sudan.
Nimeiri also did best in southern Sudan, getting 44.3
percent in Western
Equatoria state.
The results of the parliamentary elections have not been
announced but the
ruling National Congress party is also
expected to win by a wide margin.
There have been complaints of irregularities, allegedly
committed by
government officials, and one case of violence in
which four persons were
reported killed in Northern Kordofan
state, about 400 km (250 miles) west of
Khartoum, during voting
in the election process.
Voting began on December 13 and ended on December 22.
Most major opposition parties, including the Umma Party of
former Prime
Minister al-Sadeq al-Mahdi and the Popular National
Congress of former
Parliamentary Speaker Hassan al-Turabi, have
boycotted the elections, saying
conditions are not yet conducive
to holding free and fair elections.