Let's start in the South, shall we?
"S. Sudan mediators push peace plan" Bloomberg News March 07, 2015
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The East African group mediating South Sudan’s civil war plans to force rival factions to form a transitional government by July 9 after another round of talks failed, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said Friday.
The initiative comes after talks overseen by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a regional bloc, failed to end clashes between South Sudanese government forces and rebels led by former vice president Riek Machar, according to Hailemariam.
‘‘Together, we will hold the parties to their commitment to form a transitional government by July of this year,’’ the prime minister, who is also the chairman of IGAD, said in a statement given to reporters.
‘‘IGAD, joined by the friends of South Sudan from Africa and abroad, intends to implement a common plan and table a reasonable and comprehensive solution to end the crisis,’’ he said.
Conflict erupted in December 2013 in the oil-producing country when a power struggle within the ruling party turned violent.
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Related:
"The UN children’s agency said Saturday that hundreds of children were abducted two weeks ago by an armed group in South Sudan that is suspected to have ties with the country’s military. UNICEF previously said about 89 boys were forcibly recruited by an armed group near Malakal, in mid-February (AP)."
The Globe is calling it good governance.
Hard to take them serious after a while:
Meanwhile, up in the North:
"Sudan vote expected to extend al-Bashir’s rule" by Maggie Michael Associated Press April 14, 2015
KHARTOUM, Sudan — Only a trickle of voters, some in uniform, showed up at a polling station in Sudan on Monday as the country took part in an election that will almost certainly extend the 25-year rule of President Omar al-Bashir, the world’s only sitting head of state wanted on genocide charges.
That is because that body is not only cla$$ist and racist, it was set up by countries with far worse war criminals.
As polls closed at 6 p.m. on the first of three days of voting, election employees counted ballots. In one middle-class neighborhood, just 3 percent of more than 3,000 registered voters had turned up.
In other words, Bashir is illegitimate.
“This is extremely low,” an election employee said as he locked up the center. “I don’t know what is going on. We didn’t expect that.” He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
At least they weren't handed pre-marked ballots with Rahm Emanuel's name on them.
Nearly 13 million people are registered to vote for president and the 450-member legislative council. About 11,000 polling centers will be open through Wednesday, and results are expected April 27.
The election is just the second multicandidate vote to be held in Sudan since Bashir came to power in a bloodless 1989 coup. It has been boycotted by major opposition parties, which demanded postponement until the formation of a coalition government to oversee the vote and ensure its fairness.
The opposition also campaigned for ending Bashir’s rule, spray-painting “leave” on walls and election posters. But they said widespread voter apathy, and not their boycott, would be the main cause of the expected low turnout.
Everyone is tired of rigged crap.
The election has generated little excitement in Sudan but is not insignificant. Bashir must remain in office to ensure he is never sent to the Hague to face war crimes charges related to the Darfur conflict and needs at least the veneer of legitimacy to attract badly needed foreign aid and investment after the 2011 secession of oil-rich South Sudan.
Must be the same with Netanyahu, huh (btw, looks like they did get the money)?
Bashir arrived at a polling center to cast his ballot dressed in white traditional robes, surrounded by bodyguards and top state officials.
Just as any U.S. $hit in a suit.
The 71-year-old leader waved to his supporters and said “God is great” before leaving in a convoy.
Bashir’s polling center, at a school in central Khartoum, is surrounded by buildings belonging to the security establishment. Residents said plainclothes intelligence personnel flocked to the center to cast ballots, as did men in uniform.
How does the pre$$ know that?
Bashir has ruled Sudan unchallenged for 25 years and presents himself as a guarantor of stability.
Sort of like the U.S.
How long since that Berlin Wall fell again?
He survived the 2011 Arab Spring, and his massive security apparatus has left the once-vibrant opposition a husk of its former self.
He survived because USrael didn't have the support to get rid of him in a coup, so they split the country in two instead.
In the impoverished Khartoum district of al-Ezba, a handful of female voters sat on benches waiting for their turn as they talked about the lack of electricity, clean water, hospitals, schools, and health insurance.
Women can vote there? Lucky them.
“The people love al-Bashir, and I hope he can do something to fix things,” said Um Zain, a mother of four children.
Same in Syria.
The 2011 secession of South Sudan, which ended Africa’s longest-running civil war, deprived Khartoum of a third of its territory and population and nearly 80 percent of its oil revenues. At least three major insurgencies are raging in the country’s east, west, and south.
Economic losses from the succession forced Bashir to embark on austerity measures in 2013 that sparked the largest antigovernment demonstrations of his rule. Security forces clamped down, killing some 200 people and arresting hundreds more.
It was an EUSraeli destabilization effort looking back in retrospect.
Bashir has nevertheless clung to power, which virtually ensures he will never have to face ICC charges of genocide and crimes against humanity related to Darfur, where 300,000 people were killed and 2 million were displaced during the government’s brutal response to an armed rebellion.
Well, AP certainly picked sides there.
So when do Bush, Bliar, and the long procession of Israeli war criminals stand trail?
“Al-Bashir is wanted,” said top opposition figure Amin Mekki, who was released after four months in detention for signing a joint opposition initiative demanding a delay of the vote. “The presidency is the only way to remain immune.”
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