by Brad Phillips
The elections in Sudan are now officially over and all winners announced. The good news is that, so far, in the aftermath, there has been comparatively little of the violence that was initially feared by many.
The bad news is that the elections were a sham.
President Omar al-Bashir easily won his election – as predicted – after evidence of widespread fraud and voter intimidation was reported by international observers.
The first head-of-state to be re-elected while facing an international arrest warrant for war crimes.
President Bashir is simply using the cover of “democratic elections” to legitimize his murderous regime. Bashir is the only country leader currently under indictment for war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
By being officially “elected,” Bashir can now hide behind the so-called “will of the people” and continue his government’s policy of brutally oppressing all opposition.
President Obama is receiving pressure from the Right and the Left to intervene and use his influence to make sure the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) – signed in 2005 – between North and South Sudan are enforced. One of the provisions in the CPA is to clearly define the border between the North and South. The reason for this is that Southern Sudan will vote in a January 2011 referendum to decide whether to remain a part of Sudan or become its own country. Everyone predicts that Southern Sudan will vote to secede, and that means the borders need to be defined ahead of time to avoid disputes and, heaven forbid, another war.
Oil fields in Sudan will be hotly contested should the South secede in the 2011 referendum.
The US has sent more diplomats into Sudan to try to hurry along the border demarcation, but time is running out. The truth is that Omar al-Bashir’s government has no desire to lose the majority of the oil fields that currently provide $billions of revenue for the government every year. No matter how much Bashir talks about “respecting” the right of self-determination for Southern Sudan, the reality is that Bashir has a record that contradicts his “democratic rhetoric”: 2 million dead in Southern Sudan; 400,000 dead in Darfur; and millions more displaced and homeless.
But there is some really good news to report: Jesus Christ is still King, and He sits in the heavens and laughs, as Psalm 2 reminds us. He laughs at the futile attempts of men, who set themselves up as gods to rob the King of Glory the honor due His Name.
I am reminded of the verses of a wonderful hymn in American history, sung by the Puritans of New England, that the Omar al-Bashirs of the world need to hear – and fear:
Let tyrants shake their iron rod, And Slav’ry clank her galling chains, We fear them not, we trust in God, New England’s God forever reigns.
New England’s God is also Sudan’s God. And Sudan’s God continues to throw the chains of slavery off His people in Africa through the compassion and prayers of His people in America and the rest of Christendom.
