国际英语新闻：UN chief hails new development in Sudanese elections

UNITED NATIONS, April 15 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Thursday welcomed the new development in Sudan's first national elections in 24 years, which were closed across the African country.

Ban congratulated all those who participated in the polls " which took place without any major incident of violence" and called on all parties to refrain from actions that could jeopardize the "peaceful conclusion" of the electoral process.

A statement, issued by Ban's spokesman here, said: "The secretary-general congratulates all those who participated in the elections, which, despite the reported irregularities and opposition boycotts, took place without any major incident of violence."

In the statement, Ban also welcomed the extension of the voting period from three to five days, which allowed more people to exercise their right to vote.

"In the coming days and weeks, the secretary-general calls on all political leaders and their supporters to refrain from actions that could jeopardize the peaceful conclusion of the electoral process," the statement said.

Ban also called for electoral grievances to be addressed through legal and institutional channels and reviewed with transparency and fairness.

"The secretary-general welcomes efforts of the ruling parties to engage with opposition candidates and parties, including those who boycotted the polls," the statement said.

"The secretary-general encourages all political actors in Sudan to tackle issues in a spirit of dialogue, towards a peaceful electoral outcome and ongoing implementation of the CPA," the statement also read.

The current Sudanese elections constitute a landmark in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), inked between North and South Sudan in 2005, which ended an over-two- decade civil war between the two sides. It also paves the way for the referendum on self-determination for South Sudan, slated for January 2011.

Sudan's National Elections Commission (NEC) is expected to begin ballot count on Friday and the final results will be announced on April 20.

The polling process has been faced with some difficulties due to technical and administrative errors on the first day when many of the voters could not find their names on the lists.

The participating parties and their candidates have also complained about the missing names and incorrect symbols.

In an attempt to find quick solutions to the errors, the NEC then decided to extend the polling process for an extra two days and would subsequently reprint some of the incorrect ballots.

Around 16 million Sudanese voters have cast their votes in the first multi-party election in the country since 1986 to select their representatives for the presidency, the president of government of South Sudan, the state governors, and members of the national assembly and the state legislative councils.