An early political battle seems to have begun among Sudan’s political forces over the nomination of President Omar al-Bashir by his ruling National Congress Party (NCP) for the upcoming presidential elections in 2020. NCP Deputy Chairman, Faisal Hassan Ibrahim, was reported by some Sudanese local media on Tuesday to have said that his party has received positive signs on selecting the party’s Chairman Omar al-Bashir as candidate for the 2020 elections. He said by renewing the trust in its chairman and overcoming his candidacy for the 2020 elections, the NCP has enhanced the political will for the political parties and religious groups. To this end, Sudan’s Ansar al-Sunna Group was the first to support the re-election of Bashir for a third presidential term. Head of the group Ismail Mohamed al-Mahi commended “the NCP agreement and consensus on Bashir as the party candidate for the 2020 elections.” In a sermon at one of the group’s mosques in central Khartoum, Mahi regarded the NCP move as “a positive step” in unity of the ruling party. However, a large number of Sudanese political parties started to publicly express their rejection to giving Bashir a third chance in the 2020 elections, declaring determination to resist the move. Even voices from within the NCP itself emerged rejecting the re-election of Bashir, which threatens to split the party if it continues such move, as the official nomination of Bashir for the election is to be decided in the meeting of the party’s Leadership Office, slated for April 2019.
