My newest piece, a bit truncated, on the opinion pages of today’s New York Daily News. Apparently I’m keeping Charles Krauthammer’s seat warm.
Sudan: The Carter Center’s Preliminary Statement
Here’s a link to the Carter Center’s 21-page preliminary statement on Sudan’s elections. I breezed through the bullets, and the center’s key points seem to be:
1) It wasn’t a fair election.
2) Still, the exercise was a necessary one to fulfill provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, thereby making it legal to hold next year’s (dis)unity referendum, in which the south will vote to leave Sudan.
3) It was good practice. (For the next unfair election?)
and, importantly
4) Southerners didn’t get a fair shake either, thanks to intimidation by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.
It seems accurate based on my reading and interviews. The language is neutral, not condemnatory, which will annoy some. And it further confirms what a lousy deal this has been for so many people working towards real pluralism and democracy in Sudan.
My guess is there’s probably enough praise in the document to allow the Bashir regime to declare victory, despite a similar statement from the European Union.
For details, read after the jump, and by all means check the excellent reporting at the Sudan Tribune and Radio Dabanga — and please do let me know what you think.
Continue reading “Sudan: The Carter Center’s Preliminary Statement”
A Travesty, a Logistical Nightmare, Irrelevant, Democracy
Four ways of looking at Sudan’s national elections
Sudan’s first multiparty elections in 24 years started yesterday in an atmosphere of anger, hope and confusion. The last election, in 1986, followed a people’s uprising that removed a military dictator. How times change. Today another military dictator – Field Marshal Omar Hassan al-Bashir, an indicted war criminal — is Sudan’s leading candidate for president.
Befitting Africa’s biggest, and perhaps most complicated, country, there are several ways of looking at Sudan’s elections: Continue reading “A Travesty, a Logistical Nightmare, Irrelevant, Democracy”