Opposition bigwigs are miffed because of the apparent change of heart in Washington on the eve of the presidential poll, intuits Gamal Nkrumah It is easy to mock. However, the furore over the Sudanese general election is pointing the way to the political future of the country. Doubtless there will be a wailing and gnashing of teeth among Sudanese opposition parties if the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) prevails in a landslide victory in the 11-13 April presidential and parliamentary elections in Sudan as has become abundantly clear at present. The consensus emerging among Sudanese opposition groups is that the poll should not be seen as the end of the world. It is, however, perceived as a crucial landmark. "We have met with leading members of the NCP and they have conceded to most of our demands with the notable exception of postponing the polls until May. This is a major drawback as I believe that most Sudanese opposition groups prefer a May poll to an April one. If the NCP believes that a November poll is too far away, then at least a May election may prove to be a sensible compromise. Even if the ruling NCP wins, we will not be disenchanted. Rather we will consider the polls to be a chance for us to re-organise our rank and file and regenerate our political forces to harness the enthusiasm of our supporters for the next elections," Umma Party leader Sadig Al-Mahdi told Al-Ahram Weekly. As the Weekly went to print, however, he was non-committal about the full participation of the Umma Party in the forthcoming elections. Al-Mahdi stressed that the negotiations are ongoing between the NCP and several key opposition parties including the Umma Party. "Whatever the outcome, we aim at strengthening the democratic process in Sudan," Al-Mahdi insisted. Be that as it may, the leader of the umbrella opposition grouping Farouk Abu Eissa told the Weekly that he was disappointed with the NCP intransigence but that this does not come as a surprise for him. "The entire exercise has been a continuation of our struggle for democracy and human rights in Sudan. Our main concern is for the Sudanese government to scrap the emergency laws and especially those that pertain to detention without trial. The NCP has pledged to look into the matter, but frankly speaking we are not optimistic about the government's sincerity in keeping its promises." Southern Sudanese forces, on the other hand, were less pre-occupied with the presidential elections that have busied northern-based parties such as the Umma Party and the Democratic Unionist Party headed by Othman Al-Mirghani. If truth be told, the SPLM's ambiguity and vacillation in participating in the Sudanese presidential and parliamentary poll in northern Sudan say as much about the political inclination and ideological perspective of southern Sudanese in general as it does about the political situation in Sudan as a whole. The announcement that the SPLM presidential candidate Yasser Arman would not stand because his party felt that the poll would not be free and fair put the future of the 2011 Self- Determination Referendum in doubt. For all the passion the presidential polls inspire in northern Sudan, northern opposition groups are furious that many southern Sudanese are not particularly concerned with the results of the presidential poll. The southern Sudanese appear to be more interested in the result of the 2011 referendum that will determine whether southern Sudan will become a separate country or remain part of Sudan. The SPLM officially disputes this argument, stressing instead that the party is concerned about the unity of the country. "We are the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and not the 'Southern SPLM'. Such allegations are unavailing and dangerous not just for southern Sudan and should be discounted altogether. We withdrew from the presidential race in the north precisely because we care about the outcome of the poll in the north and we know that the result is bound to be fraudulent," Arman told the Weekly. The fact that Arman is dropping out of the presidential race along with other presidential candidates of the main Sudanese opposition parties bodes ill, however. He is a Muslim northerner with wide popular appeal throughout the country. His charisma and following in many northern regions of Sudan, and in particular the national capital Khartoum where many southern Sudanese displaced from two decades of war in the south reside, was guaranteed to secure him many votes in the north. It is against this chaotic backdrop that the Sudanese political establishment, both government and opposition, are looking to the United States for indications about its true intentions, which Washington has been reluctant to make clear. US President Barack Obama's Special Envoy for Sudan Scott Gration held "crisis talks" in the Sudanese capital Khartoum with members of both the Sudanese government and the opposition as well as senior members of the National Electoral Commission. The US has signalled that it sees no reason for the Sudanese presidential polls to be postponed. "In the next two weeks, we are going to see a real big focus on the elections. There is not going to be a lot of bandwidth to be doing Darfur," Gration told reporters in Khartoum. Washington's position has irked many Sudanese opposition parties. "We expected a more constructive role from the international community, and Washington's backing of Al-Bashir came as something of an unpleasant surprise as far as we are concerned," Abu Eissa conceded. The government is trying in vain to "save face". (see pp.9&14)
