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Sudan Election Should Not Legitimize Bashir, Says Ambassador Frazer

   reinforces  the  status  quo  which  will  allow President Omar Hassan
   Al-Bashir  and  his  National Congress Party (NCP) to further dominate
   the countryâs politics

   Peter Clottey 14 April 2010

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

   Southern  Sudanese  wait  to  vote  at a polling station outside Juba,
   southern  Sudan,  Tuesday,  April  13,  2010. Each item in the line at
   center  represents  an  individual  who plans to return as soon as the
   polling  station  opens.  Widespread  problems  with  voting  prompted
   Sudanese  authorities  to  extend the voting period from three to five
   days. (AP Photo/Pete Muller)

   The  former  U.S Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs says
   Sudanâs  general  election  scheduled  to  end Thursday reinforces the
   status  quo  which  will allow President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and his
   National  Congress  Party  (NCP)  to  further  dominate  the countryâs
   politics.

   Ambassador  Jendayi  Frazer  said the NCP seems determined to maintain
   its  grip  on power in order to continue its policies of marginalizing
   other  regions  as  well  as  ensuring that power and wealth remain in
   Khartoum.

   âIt  is  a  process  that  was  harmed,  I think fundamentally, by the
   National  Congress Party and its manipulation of the process, from the
   census  to  the  voter  registration  to  the  distribution of polling
   stations  and  materials  to  benefit  the  NCP. Secondly, it has been
   harmed  by  the  opposition's last decision to boycott and to withdraw
   from the polls,â she said.

   Sudanâs  general  election which is the first in decades forms part of
   the  2005  Comprehensive  Peace  Agreement which effectively ended the
   civil  war  between  the President Bashir-led government and the Sudan
   Peopleâs Liberation Movement (SPLM).

   Ambassador Frazer said some observers initially had high hopes for the
   election.

   âSome feel that these polls had to go forward because of the CPA. They
   certainly  were  seen  by  the  Comprehensive  Peace  Agreement as the
   mechanism for democratic transformation, but in fact I think they have
   resulted in maintaining the status quoâ¦with the NCP returned to power
   and  the  opposition  further  disenfranchised  by  their own action,â
   Frazer said.

   The  United  States-based  Carter  Center is among other international
   poll  observers,  including  the  African  Union,  Arab League and the
   European Union monitoring Sudanâs general elections.

   Ambassador  Frazer  said  the international community should pay close
   attention to reports from the poll observers.

   âFirst  we  will have to hear what the observers sayâ¦but I also think
   that  the  world  needs  to understand from the point of view that the
   (election)  is  manipulated by the NCP from the outset that it doesnât
   any  further give Bashir any kind of democratic credential or mandate.
   In  fact  he  cannot  come  out  of  these  elections with any greater
   legitimacy  given  that  he went in as a war criminal and he will come
   out as an indicted war criminal,â Frazer said.

   The  ruling  National  Congress  Party  said Wednesday it would invite
   opposition  parties  to  join  the  government  if  the party wins the
   general elections scheduled to end Thursday.

   This  comes  after  several  opposition  groups,  including  the Sudan
   Peopleâs  Liberation  Movement (SPLM) and the UMMA party boycotted the
   poll  claiming the NCP influenced the National Electoral Commission to
   rig the vote - - a charge the ruling party denies.

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