Dear Friends,

Sudan’s first multi-party elections in 24 years are less than a month away.

Late Wednesday night, the largest opposition party in Sudan (the southern based Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement) announced it was withdrawing its candidate for president of Sudan from the national elections scheduled for April 11-13. The leaders of SPLM did so reportedly because they were convinced that elections were too flawed to move forward and they did not want to legitimize a process that led to the re-election of President Omar-al Bashir, the architect of the Darfur genocide.

Thursday morning, the remaining major opposition parties (with one exception) followed suit and withdrew their candidates from the presidential ballot. Save Darfur has long said that we do not believe free and fair elections are possible in Sudan given the oppressive political environment that has preceded them. And in the last two days, the decisions by the major opposition parties to withdraw underscore that fact.

These elections could legitimize a corrupt, genocidal regime unless the international community acts today.

Please join TAG and the Save Darfur Coalition in sending a letter to President Obama, urging him not to recognize an illegitimate election. You can also sign up for important updates on the Sudanese election and additional opportunities to take action.

http://action.savedarfur.org/campaign/sudanelections

Be an UpStander,

Jay Geller
for Tennesseans Against Genocide