Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir has been re-elected with 94.5% of the votes. The major opposition parties have boycotted the election, saying there was little chance of a free and fair contest. The Election Commission of Sudan has put turnout at 46.4 percent and denied widespread reports of low participation.

The Election Commission announced that, Bashir’s closest competitor, Fadl el-Sayed Shuiab of the small Federal Truth Party, secured only 79,665 votes, or 1.43%. Bashir has been in power since 1989. He has now extended his 25-year rule despite war-crimes charges and domestic rebellions.

The Western countries like the US, Britain and Norway have criticized the polls for not being free and fair. Bashir is the only sitting President facing genocide charges at the International Criminal Court. He  is wanted on charges of war crimes related to the Darfur conflict, which began in 2003. According to the UN estimates,  more than 300,000 people had died and more than two million people had displaced.

Tidbits

1. Sudan’s Capital – Khartoum
2. Largest City – Omdurman
3. Sudan’s Currency – Sudanese Pound
4. Sudan was the largest country in Africa until 2011, when South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum.
5. Sudan’s predominant religion is Islam. 
6. The Nile River divides the country into eastern and western halves.