News

The big losers in Sudan's flawed election are the abused and ignored people of Darfur

Share Bookmark Print Email
Email this article to a friend

Submit Cancel
Rating
By Sean Brooks and Celeste Robinson  (email the author)
Email this article to a friend

Submit Cancel


Posted  Wednesday, April 28  2010 at  18:42

Nafie declared that overall participation of Darfuris in the election process would be high, and stated, “Darfuris will vote for the NCP,” promising the crowd that “Darfur will find salvation after an NCP victory.”

Perhaps for different reasons, the head of the AU Observer Mission in Sudan and former president of Ghana John Kufuor said he believed the people of Darfur generally appreciated what he referred to as “the institution of election.”

Even those who boycotted the vote or complained about irregularities, he said, believed the election is a “necessary beginning” for the country’s more positive future.

It is therefore unfortunate that Darfur has been robbed of its participation in this national milestone. The Carter Centre determined two days after the polls closed, “With respect to Darfur, the Centre cannot endorse elections in the region as meeting national or international standards.”

The “legal and security conditions” in Darfur necessary for political activity to be freely conducted were not realised in advance of the polls, and are now unlikely to be fulfilled, leaving many in fear of what’s next for the troubled region.

Nevertheless, Bashir’s government will soon declare an overwhelming victory in all of Sudan. It will declare that, despite decades of war and repression, it has earned a mandate from the people it governs, and the citizens it has oppressed will somehow find salvation in its continuing reign.

Share This Story
Share

Bashir will confidently excuse his ICC indictment, while the world — desperate to move on to the next chapter in Sudan’s transformation — will very probably accept the results.

The reality is that these elections have effectively pushed Darfur further into the margins, and amid renewed fears have deprived its people of true leadership.

Sean Brooks is a policy analyst at the Save Darfur Coalition; he recently returned from a month-long trip to Sudan. Celeste Robinson specialises in security and civilian protection in Africa.

« Previous Page 1 | 2

Add a comment (0 comments so far)

.

IN PICTURES: Egyptians protest military rule

Pope Benedict XVI blesses children at St. Gall Seminary in Ouidah on November 19, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Benin on November 18, marking his second visit to Africa in a heartland of voodoo and warning against "unconditional submission" to the laws of the market and finance.    AFP PHOTO /VINCENZO PINTO

IN PICTURES: Pope Benedict XVI in Benin

For the first time in over three years, Somalis venture out to their beaches November 19, 2011showing a new sense of security since the militant group al-Shabaab, aligned with al-Qaeda, retreated from Mogadishu in August. Photo/XINHUA

IN PICTURES: Somalis return to beaches

Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, talks to a famine victim at Mogadishu's largest camp on November 19, 2011. Photo/XINHUA

IN PICTURES: Somali PM visits largest IDP camp