Nigeria Content Online

Last
week’s election in Sudan was the first in 26 years. It was expected to
last for three days, but as of the time of writing this piece, it was
still ongoing. This is not surprising. Sudan is the biggest country on
the African continent and it has had a chequered life of military and
civilian dictatorships, from the time of the religious Mahdis to Omar
al-Bashir. Apart from its size, there are other challenges that led to
the difficulties experienced during the voting process. The vast land
and the fact that not many of the citizens have witnessed such a thing
before. Those who are old enough have either never voted before or have
forgotten what the experience was like.

Those who are under
26 are going through it for the very first time in their lives. The
hiccups were therefore, not out of place.

I saw on the
television a 76 year old man who said he was voting because he never
remembered what it was like, and that he decided to participate because
it could well be the last time he would have such an opportunity.
Watching this on the television reminded me of the same experience and
sentiments some old South Africans expressed during the first
multi-racial election that brought Nelson Mandela to power. This is not
to say the two are on the same scale.

The run up to the
Sudanese election had been tough and deeply controversial because it
was like a fight between the north and the south of the country. This
was not in disguise at all. Most of the parties from the South decided
to withdraw from taking part in the election, so as not to lend
credence to the thoroughly discredited government in Khartoum headed by
al-Bashir. On the other hand, al-Bashir needed the participation of all
the parties to help shore up his own image at home and abroad. He
needed it because it would give him at least another five years of
moratorium from his indictment by the International Criminal Court,
which is waiting for him in the wings to stand trial for crimes against
humanity.

For all intents,
last week’s election was more about al-Bashir, than about the future of
Sudan. Although we may not be able to completely divorce the future of
the country from it, but the one that needs that election more is the
president. First, he needs it to send signals to the international
community that he is still ‘popular’, despite the charges against him.
He needs the endorsement to show that he is not the felon that the ICC
has categorised him as. It is, therefore, very important for him to
give the election a semblance of credibility. This was however, denied
him by the mass withdrawal from the election by majority of the parties
in South Sudan.

The parties were
unwilling to give him any credit because they understood that
participating in the charade was going to give him some points to
hammer on, that he conducted an election in which his popularity was
endorsed by all Sudanese. Now with the election over, and the counting
on, it goes without saying that al-Bashir’s party is going to ‘‘sweep’’
the polls, ala elections, in Africa.

However, how the
country moves from here is the important thing. In another year after
the 2005 peace accord, there is going to be a referendum during which
the South is going to vote whether to remain as part of the Sudan as it
is today, or go its own separate way, as an independent country. It is
almost certain that the South would vote for independence. It is
therefore, more about al-Bashir than for the citizens. What he has just
done is to tell the international community that ‘you demand for
elections or democracy, I’ve organised elections and Sudan now has
democracy, so what more do you want?’

We all know he is only hanging on a thin thread. If he thinks this would help him, he should ask Charles Taylor.