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OO RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0182/01 0320509
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 010508Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0108
INFO IGAD COLLECTIVE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000182 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM SU
SUBJECT: ELECTIONS UPDATE: NCP CONCLUDES NOMINATIONS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On January 27, the official nomination period for 
Sudan's April 2010 national elections concluded with a mostly full 
slate of National Congress Party (NCP) nominees in all twenty five 
states of the country.  Despite this, the NCP chose not to nominate 
a candidate for the president of the Government of Southern Sudan. 
President Bashir was nominated for President of the Republic.  Some 
governorship races were very contentious and drew party criticism, 
which led to new nominees being selected.  The NCP seems assured of 
its success though they fear losses at local levels and in tribal 
areas where local tribal nominees, regardless of party, will likely 
fare better than outside candidates. End Summary. 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) The nomination period for the NCP went smoothly according 
to Ibrahim Ghandour, NCP Political Secretariat chief and 
influential NCP heavy weight, during a January 28 poloff meeting. 
While Ghandour acknowledged some NCP state committees seemed 
frustrated by the process and rejected some governor candidates, 
his overall attitude toward the election was decidedly positive and 
confident. 
 
 
 
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BASHIR NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT 
 
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¶3. (SBU) In a unanimous vote, the NCP "Shurra" (Leadership) council 
nominated President Omer Al Bashir for the Presidency.  In 
accordance with the Political Parties Law, Bashir stepped down from 
his post as Commander in Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), 
although even the Ministry of Defense noted that his resignation 
from the military would be temporary until his likely election in 
April, 2010.  Bashir has actively been campaigning since well 
before his nomination as posters, bumper stickers and bill boards 
all call for supporting this "national hero". 
 
 
 
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NO NCP NOMINEE FOR GOSS PRESIDENCY 
 
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¶4. (SBU) On January 27, the NCP announced that the party would 
support Salva Kiir for President of Southern Sudan.  While some 
were surprised, the NCP's presidential adviser Ali Tamim Fartak 
said that the move was to "maintain a good partnership" in the CPA. 
Ghandour stated that the NCP knew they wouldn't win the race for 
the GOSS presidency.  In addition, Ghandour added that the NCP 
wanted to send a positive signal that they are for continued CPA 
implementation, and don't want to complicate matters by appearing 
to "manipulate" the South.  Still other opposition parties counter 
that Lam Akol, former Government of National Unity (GNU) foreign 
minister and former member of the SPLM, is the "real" NCP nominee 
for the GOSS presidency as they accuse his new splinter party, the 
SPLM-DC, of being allied with the NCP. 
 
 
 
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GOVERNORS REMOVED, NOMINEES CHANGED 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) During the week of January 17, 2010, President Omar 
Al-Bashir issued a presidential decree relieving the governors of 
North Kordofan, South Darfur, River Nile, Kassala, White Nile, 
Northern and El-Gadaref states.  All NCP nominees in these states 
are different from the current governors.  President Bashir did not 
relieve current NCP governors who were nominated to run for their 
position including the governors of Khartoum, Gezira, Sennar, Red 
 
KHARTOUM 00000182  002 OF 002 
 
 
Sea, South Kordofan and North Darfur states.  Due to contention 
within the parties regarding the nominations, the NCP sent out 
seven delegations to the contested states.  Salah Gosh, former 
director of the National Intelligence and Security Service, headed 
a delegation to Kassala State.  In addition the NCP sent Ahmed 
Ibrahim El-Tahir, Speaker of the National Assembly, and Ibrahim 
Ghandour to various states to resolve differences with the NCP 
state-level committees.  In the end, the NCP changed gubernatorial 
nominations in two states, North Kordofan and Blue Nile States. 
State-level committees were reportedly concerned about the 
electability of candidates originally nominated.  The committees 
disagreed with Khartoum's decision to bring in outside nominees, 
and argued that to guarantee maximum support, local nominees were 
needed.  Ghandour stated that the NCP was particularly careful to 
take local sensitivities into account when selecting candidates for 
Darfur. 
 
 
 
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GHANDOUR: NCP WILL CARRY THE DAY 
 
------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to Ghandour, no one party is likely to win a 
landslide victory in the elections.  He believes that the NCP will 
come in second in the south.  Ghandour went on to state that the 
NCP is focusing on the most challenging races in Khartoum, Darfur, 
and Blue Nile states.  The NCP is relying on women and youth to 
campaign for the party.  While Ghandour conceded that the NCP might 
face difficulty in some races, he noted that Yasir Arman is the 
only serious candidate to contest against Bashir, though he 
insisted that Bashir would win easily. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: The NCP has long been preparing for elections, 
and the nomination period was well planned for through NCP's 
sophisticated state networks and party apparatus.  Disagreement at 
the state-level is evidence of divisions between NCP state-level 
committees and the national NCP leadership.  It is uncommon for 
senior NCP officials to be dispatched to the state-level to resolve 
issues.  While it is too early to gauge the implications of the 
latter, it is clear that disagreements within the party may play 
out further as the campaigning period progresses.  Unlike many 
Sudanese political parties that saw a rise of independent 
candidates due to dissatisfaction with the nomination process, the 
NCP has remained fairly united and no independent candidates were 
announced. END COMMENT. 
WHITEHEAD