Elections in Sudan

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How We Got Here #42 features a conversation with historian Justin Willis of Durham University.  He says he feels a sense of regret as the elections unfold:

The idea that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the process of that, might lead to a wider transformation in Sudan was a quite bold idea, a quite admirable idea. The election was intended to play a part in that. Sadly, for multiple reasons, partly to do with disorganization, partly to do with the attitudes of the major signatories to the CPA, the election, sadly, is not going to realize that dream of creating a democratically-transformed and united Sudan. Instead it looks as if it’s just going to be a staging post on the way to Southern secession and to the persistence of fairly authoritarian forms of government, certainly in the North and possibly in the South as well. Sadly that’s a great missed opportunity. I feel almost certain that more could have been done. The election could have been better organized. More pressure could have been put on the partners on both North and South to create a more level playing field, to create a better possibility for democratic transformation. So overall my feeling is this is an opportunity lost, sadly.

BBC Coverage

Elections in Sudan: Learning from Experience