'There is no such thing as an election in Sudan'

Voting booths across Sudan will be quiet today. Members of all opposition parties are refusing to participate in the vote, and activists are calling for a mass boycott of a “charade” election.

Hassan Osman Rizig, deputy president of the opposition Reform Now Movement party, said: “We are not going to participate in this election because they are not fair and free. They are not recognised by the internal opposition or by the international community.”

President Omar al-Bashir, who has ruled for 26 years, is expected to win another landslide.

Bashir is wanted on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide over his military campaign in Darfur. Elsewhere, he is fighting insurgencies in the southern regions of the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, where fighting erupted in 2011 when South Sudan seceded to form an independent state.

As a result, it was announced last week that elections will not take place in one district of Darfur, and seven in South Kordofan, with officials citing security reasons.

‘What if a voter gets hit by a bomb?’

For Saad Basha, a resident of South Kordofan, it’s the threat of violence that will keep him away from the polling stations: “It’s not possible that I hide in the mountains from airstrikes, Antonov bombers, and then go and vote.”

“What if a citizen goes to cast his vote and gets hit by a bomb? Who is accountable for this citizen’s safety? That’s why there is no such thing as elections here.”

The rebel insurgencies Bashir faces in Darfur, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile see predominantly African groups fighting against the government’s armies and militia, who are mostly of Arab ethnicity.

Ethnic identity has frequently been twisted to the needs of ruling and opposition parties, as well as rebel forces. Local leaders in marginalised areas of Sudan accuse ruling, Arab elites – who are the majority in the capital, Khartoum – of consistently failing to deliver on promises of shared wealth and development.

Rebel leaders have called the election “propaganda”, and say that lack of representation in central government is the motivation for them to keep fighting.

In the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan more than 3,500 bombs have fallen on civilian targets, leaving the population homeless, facing a food crisis and forced to live in caves , hiding from a war that has raged for nearly two decades.

‘I already know the result’

For Yasser, a journalist in Khartoum, the vote is meaningless. “I will not vote in the elections because I know the result in advance,” he says.

“There is only one candidate who will win, and it’s the current president – the rest of the candidates are extras to legitimise the electoral process.”

Ashor Tleeb, a commissioner in Dilling, a town in the northern part of South Kordofan, says that given the rich diversity of ethnicities in Sudan “the lack of true democracy makes governance a real challenge.”

The UN estimates that Sudan’s population is near 37 million, with nearly 600 ethnic groups speaking more than 400 languages and dialects.

‘Is there any point in voting?’

“Are these true and fair elections?” asks Khartoum-based journalist, Rishan. “Is there any point in voting? And would the current government accept the outcome of the election? They will not give up power so easily, and for this reason, I’m boycotting the elections.”

In Kauda, the de-facto capital of rebel-held territory in South Kordofan, Zobida Hassan Koko, who works in humanitarian affairs, said: “I want to send a message to the international community. I want them to find a holistic solution for Sudan.”

Koko calls for “elections that are democratic and inclusive for all people,” adding that it isn’t fair that some regions are at war while others are peaceful enough to vote.

In an apparent attempt to gain favour, the government released two prominent political prisoners last week. They were criticised by rights group Freedom House of attempting to “legitimise a tainted electoral process”.

Fadlalla Burma Nassir of the opposition Umma Party, welcomed the release of the two men but warned: “It does not change the environment, where the government is cracking down on the opposition, on civil society, and on the media,” he said.