KHARTOUM, March 15 (NNN-SUNA) — The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) has categorically dismissed reports that a UN official here is involved in the process of granting contracts for the printing of some election ballots inside Sudan.

UNMIS Sunday dismissed the allegation, attributed to the Umma Reform and Renewal Party (URRP), suggesting that the UN Mission’s Chief Electoral Affairs Officer, had been involved in the process, as unfounded.

A UNMIS spokesman said in a press statement received by SUNA here that the decision to print ballots inside Sudan for executive offices, which include the presidential and gubernatorial elections, was taken by Sudan’s National Elections Commission (NEC) on its own initiative and subsequently communicated to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UNMIS.

The UNMIS Chief Electoral Affairs Officer subsequenctly recommended to the NEC that arrangements should be put in place to ensure that non-partisan observers and party agents had the opportunity to observe and ensure the integrity of this printing process inside Sudan.

The UNMIS Spokesman reiterated that the role of the UN Mission and its Electoral Assistance Division was restricted to providing technical assistance and limited logistical support within its capabilities when requested to do so.

This did not involve making substantive decisions about any aspect of the electoral process as such decisions were left in their entirety to the NEC and other stakeholders in Sudan as an internal Sudanese matter, he added. — NNN-SUNA

• HANTAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN CHILEAN REGION
• WORLD ORGANIZATION DEMANDS OBAMA TO FREE CUBAN FIVE
• DEATH TOLL FROM BUILDING COLLAPSE RISES TO 17 IN PAKISTAN
• HILDHOOD OBESITY IN MONTSERRAT AN EMERGING PROBLEM
• KIDNAPPED IRANIAN PILGRIMS FREED IN SYRIA