Two more candidates, including Sudan’s first female presidential candidate, were added to the list of ten already-confirmed presidential contenders in April’s national elections. The Sudanese Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the two candidates are eligible to run, after the elections commission had initially rejected three candidates on the grounds that they did not meet requirements. All contenders were required to collect 15,000 signatures from 18 out of 25 states.
Professor Fatima Abdel Mahmoud, the only female candidate, has quite an impressive array of experiences to back her race for presidency. Currently the Director Founder of UNESCO-IESCO Chair for Women in Science and Technology, Professor Fatima also has a long political background, ranging from her present chairmanship of the Sudanese Socialist Democratic Union party to, according to her extensive resume found online, governorship of a north Sudanese state. (The resume also showed Professor Fatima to be a candidate with a history of dedication to public health and women’s development in Sudan—take a look.)
The other candidate announced was Munir Sheikh el-Din Jallab, from the New Democratic Nationalist Party. The two new additions to the race bring the total number of candidates to 12. Regardless of how who wins the top seat, as Mahmoud said herself, "This is a victory for Sudanese women that for the first time a woman will stand for the presidency of the republic."