From 11 – 15 April, Sudan held its first multiparty elections in 24 years. Elections were an essential benchmark of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which brought the 22-year civil war to a close, and was signed by the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM). The CPA provides a framework for legal and constitutional changes to take place over a six year interim period, ending with the 2011 referenda for self determination in the South of Sudan and Abyei, and popular consultations in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile. Elections had been included in the CPA as a mechanism for both addressing the key cause of the conflict – namely the exclusion of Sudanese citizens from political participation – and also to lend popular support to the 2011 referenda and to ensure that the process of separation would be overseen by a democratically elected government. Elections provided a critical opportunity to address both the challenges of the CPA and to advance political openness in Sudan. In some respects, the elections represented a significant step forward. A generation of Sudanese who had never before exercised their right to vote had the opportunity to do so. Political campaigning offered a unique opportunity to engage in political issues critical to the nation.