Too Tolerant of Too Many Flaws in Sudan's Elections

In press releases that could have been (and possibly were) written before voting in Sudan even commenced, two international election observer missions, the Carter Center and the European Union, commented this weekend that Sudan's elections did not meet "international standards" — and yet the elections are likely to be accepted by the international community.

The elections, of course, do have some validity: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is right in his comment that the polls allowed the Sudanese "an opening to participate and present their views," and no one is contesting the importance of that exercise.

However, when it comes to balancing this "opening" with the systematic campaign of manipulation and intimidation launched by the ruling National Congress Party and the North, and to a lesser (but still apparent) extent the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the South, the actual effect of accepting the polls is not to validate the expressed will of the Sudanese people, but to legitimize and further entrench power-hungry elites who've spent the better half of their rule stifling this same will.

Accepting the elections does not support the participation of the Sudanese people, but bolsters those whose power is based on oppression and violence. Accepting the elections despite egregious flaws — flaws that go far beyond what should be considered acceptable, even in the most difficult of circumstances — throws the "opening to participate" of the Sudanese people under the bus.

Results might be released as early as tomorrow. The general sense, from my observations, is that after elections everything will calm down and return to the status quo. This is the great tragedy of accepting the
results and checking elections off as if they were simply an item on a to-do list. Elections could have been transformative for Sudan, but instead are just another notch on the belt of the National Congress Party.

Photo credit: Girifna (used with permission)