Sudan's Bashir wins party backing for vote, set to extend 25 year rule
Sun Oct 26, 2014 10:53am GMT
* Presidential elections due in April 2015
* Bashir had indicated he would not run for re-election
* Had pledged to redraw constitution, integrate opposition
* No visible progress on "national dialogue" made
By Khalid Abdelaziz
KHARTOUM, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Sudan's ruling party has given final approval
to President Omar Hassan al-Bashir as its candidate in next year's
presidential vote, sealing his bid to extend his rule after 25 years in
power.
Wanted on charges of genocide and war crimes by the International Criminal
Court, Bashir has reason to fear his future should he leave office as he
would have to entrust his fate to a successor. He can now cast those fears
aside.
National Congress Party leaders endorsed Bashir by a 94 percent margin at a
party conference late on Saturday. Senior leaders had already eliminated
four rival party candidates in an earlier vote last week.
The formal endorsement confirmed what many in Sudan had expected: Bashir
would break his promise to step down and not run for another term in April
2015 polls.
Though the 70-year-old Bashir pledged in January to redraw the constitution,
bring opposition parties into government, and launch a national dialogue, no
visible progress has been made.
The few active opposition movements in Sudan are already losing hope of any
change in the political climate and some have recently announced their plan
to boycott the presidential vote.
Dire economic conditions since the secession of the oil-rich southern half
of the country in 2011 -- including inflation that currently hovers around
40 percent -- anger struggling citizens.
However, some Sudanese feel they cannot trust alternatives to Bashir, who
has proven himself a political survivor, fighting off coup attempts, civil
wars, and international isolation.
Sudan was placed on a U.S. sanctions list in 1993 for harbouring
"international terrorists" and is under international sanctions for actions
during the conflict in the Darfur region that has killed hundreds of
thousands of people since 2003.
In 2009, that isolation deepened when the ICC issued arrests warrants
against Bashir. Nations like Kenya were criticised by the United States --
itself not party to the ICC's Rome Statue -- for hosting him.
U.S. President Barack Obama notified U.S. Congress on Friday he was
extending sanctions on Sudan that began with an emergency declaration in
1997. In a statement issued by the White House, Obama said that Sudan's
policies and actions pose an "unusual and extraordinary threat to the
national security and foreign policy of the United States".
But there were no complaints after Bashir's visit to Cairo this month.
Egypt, concerned over militants capitalising on chaos in post-Muammar
Gaddafi Libya next door, has said it will coordinate efforts with Sudan in
order to stabilise Libya. Sudan and Egypt share a border with Libya.
Perhaps sensing a changing dynamic, Bashir struck a confident tone in
remarks at the conference, telling party members that he believed his
country's isolation was ending.
"Many bodies were counting on Sudan being isolated, but we are seeing an
opening in our external relations," he said.
He cited his recent visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, saying that they
"removed the doubts" and "returned things to normal". He also said that Arab
states were funding government projects, thereby helping Sudan avoid having
to resort to conditional loans from the International Monetary Fund and
World Bank.
Sudanese media outlets reported earlier this month that Sudan had secured
financial support from Saudi Arabia following Bashir's visit, but did not
cite details. (Writing and additional reporting by Maggie Fick in Cairo;
Editing by Lin Noueihed and Raissa Kasolowsky)