Sudanese go to polls in first multiparty election in over two decades

This Sunday, voters begin three days of polling in Sudan in the first election with multiparty candidates in 24 years. Voters will elect the next president. They’ll also fill the 450 seats in the national assembly. Incumbent President Omar Al Bashir, who took over leadership in a 1989 coup and is currently under an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, is expected to win. But conflict continues in the region and this week the European Union pulled election monitors out of Darfur, citing safety concerns. That, along with an electoral boycott by opposition parties, has cast questions about the legitimacy of the outcome.

Still, according to the nation’s electoral commission, 81 percent of eligible voters have registered to vote. Two Sudanese voters in Unity State told reporter Lonya Bany that they're hopeful.

"I think it's going to be okay...I"m traveling to [Juba] tomorrow for the elections."

The Sudan People's LIberation Movement, the opposition party from the south, has pulled out - at least partly - from the election. FSRN’s Zach Baddorf is in Rambak, Sudan. He explains the implications.

“In a lot of media reports, you’ll see that the SPLM, the opposition party has boycotted elections and in part that’s true…and make it so that Bashir doesn't have the legitimacy that he’s trying to go for."

Southern Sudan plans to vote on a referendum next January that would establish its independence from the North in 2011. That referendum is a key issue in the current election. Again, Zach Baddorf.

"This is a big part of the puzzle, especially for the South…control the oil revenue in the south...Unfortunately, they do have to continue to work with the North because that's where all the refineries are."

That's FSRN's Zach Baddorf in Sudan talking about the elections this weekend. Polling will continue through next week.