Frost over the World in Sudan

Updated: on may-5-2010

     an interesting debate and a good comparison between Congo election and the Sudanese election by Jendayi Frazer. Thank you Sir David Frost and i hope you make more of these debate on Aljazeera. I wish Jendayi Frazer had to chance to talk more about the Congo election’s. while watching the clip i just hoped that Sir David would give her more time to talk more about the election interim of African being able to execute a legitimate election when the tools and mechanism are supported and used. The excuse that this election was done in a country that had not had an election for 24 years is not strong, Congo election is an example, she point out that in this clip too. The excuse that Sudanese people don't know about democracy or democratic change by the Sudanese debater is not strong either. lets just be clear before this government and the one before it that rule for 16 year under a dictatorship rule of numari with his inhumane communist ideas, Sudan was implementing democratic policies at a good speed. Sudan had election in the past, and that election to a large extent was a free and fair election although they wore not covering the all of Sudan which by the way this one also doesn't they served as a mechanism to educate the Sudanese people about the right to vote, the right to voice their opinion and the right to choice their leader, they also helped steer Sudan into democratic change and that intern helped the economy in what we Sudanese people know as the democratic times or party ruling time. which wore unfortunately not for a long. Well I let you watch the clip and tell me what you think.

 

please feel free to comment on your thoughts and opinions.

Folks it is official, YouTube blocked in Sudan Again.

well it is official, the news has been circulating around the net for a while. it is official. what would you expect from the NTC after the fallowing clip has been shown in YouTube?, this is not the first time they blocked YouTube, they blocked it before in 2008. it is normal in state such as Iran, China, Sudan to control there media heavily and that is what we would always expect from such states. when Iran had its long demonstration revolt last year due to it’s election, it was interesting to see how twitter played a major roll as a communication tool between Iranian people themselves and the outside world. but then Iran blocked the website and stop any one from accessing it in Iran. an interesting cartoon that has been circulated on the net is shown below, it is about the usage of twitter in the post Iranian election demonstration and how technology is now empowering people to speak up.

He’s twittering, (who is reading, The world is reading)

the question i would like to ask is Sudan a step ahead of Iran and want to block all these social media sites before announcing the winner of this election?, that could be possible. but that wouldn't stop this clip or even other clip from spreading on the net, these government should know that blocking these social media sites would not stop people from viewing clip on the net or stop them from voicing the thought about it. the video could be circulated even now throughout the net by email or even in Sudan by Bluetooth enabled devices and much, much more. the fact is technology is changing the way we communicate with each other and on the other hand it is empowering people everywhere to speak up against injustice acts around the world and to voice there opinion loud and clear for the world to hear (read).

the news article stated that this action by the NTC is due to the leaking of a clips showing stuffing of electoral ballots, in what the opposition party say a clear evident of how the current election has been rigged. the clip shows electoral ballots being stuffed with ballots forums in what seems to be a polling site located in the red sea state of eastern Sudan.

here are the sources.

Sudan reportedly blocks YouTube over electoral fraud video

Sudan opposition claims video shows election fraud

Sudan: Empowering the Middle Class

     Image Source: Washington Post

     while surfing the net, a Friend of mine from GV send me this article posts titled The Ugly Election, it was interesting reading it and for sure it was well informative for me and my studies on the current election in the Sudan.  i like the part where the blogger states

Our voters fall into two main categories. Category A is those who have, of necessity or opportunism, joined the loyalty parade. This includes almost all rural voters whose services and livelihoods require government beneficence. It includes anyone who may need a license to trade. These voters will vote NCP, and the uglier the candidate, the more likely they will vote him in, because the ugliest representative is likely to be the one seated closest to the president and his minions.
Category B is those who have neither material interest nor personal proclivity for this kind of politics. Most of them did not register and most of those who registered did not vote. Observing the trickle of voters at the polling stations last week I would guess that the male population under the age of thirty belongs in its near entirety to category B.

Abd Alwahab (bloggers name)  point out an important factor in this election, that is who control the income of more then half of the Sudanese population that live on rural areas, who sometimes pumps water to them so that they can farm, who has a sole monopoly over  seeds distribution so they can be able to farm the next season, who has the money to buys there product so that they can live another day, who at the end tax them when they finish farming so that they are allowed to farm the next season and finally who can stop all of these necessary commodities needed by them and has the power to do it. it is very interesting and sad how these basic needs link a person opinion to his country future and his family as a whole. that Maslow's hierarchy of needs for you right there!!!.

this Reminds me of Thomas Jefferson quotes when he said

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."

-Thomas Jefferson-

 

feel free to comment.

Rattansi & Ridley interviews Hassan al-Turabi and Ibrahim Ghandour

an interview between Rattansi & Ridley and Hassan al-Turabi and Ibrahim Ghandour  on there perspective on the election. just an updated about the current opinion of the opposition parties and the national congress party on the election.

feel free to comment.

My First Post in Global voices online, a start for many to come

yesterday i was able to post my first post in Global voices online website, it is by far the best site to read from about deferent people opinion and perspective and i am very honored to be part of the citizen journalism revolution that GV is leading. here is the link to the post “First GV post my Mahid (Sudanese Guardian)” i would like to thanks all the Sudanese blogger for blogging about the election and letting us read there thought and comments. thank you a lot.  thank you blackkush and Sudanese thinkers for your post and for shearing it on the net.

Sudan: Polling period extended for two days

after much confusion and disarray in the polling process, the NEC has decided to extend the election period for 2 days, i am sure that would not help fix the problems that the election is facing but it might help those waiting in line to vote and give them more time to do so. for sure this would not help mitigate any of the opposition party compliant and problems.

  in the clip in 2:05 Mr. Hafz point out an important issue and that is when those opposition party that withdraw from the election have with draw themselves they didn't tell there support what they should do from now on, they just keep silent, which makes it really frustrating to see, they the opposition parties should at least arrange a peaceful demonstration calling on and demanding change and asking for a more fair and free election and the postponing of the election time. even if the election was to start tomorrow, they should have done something at least. 2 day tell the end of this so called election, lets wait and see what the result could be..

feel free to comment on you thought or give some suggestion.

Sudan election: the First day of election in 24 years.

The Sudanese election has started yesterday the 11 of April, after 24 years of totalitarianism government ruling. the Sudanese youth are for there first time in 24 years experiencing an election, lets just not forget that it is not a fully free and fair election. but with all of this comes lots of complexities, poll ballot not arriving on time, poll areas not opening on time and much, much confusion and disarray in the air, lets not forget the illiteracy rate that is in Sudan 40% of the population and poll ballots being confuse as they are , i have even heard it took an educated average adult 20 minute to understand the process. with all of this  an important issue immerges, less then half of the population have registered to vote for this election the other half might be located in war torn areas such as darfur or areas out of reach of the ballots polls. these 16 million register voter they must vote for atleast 8 vote ballots.

“Sudanese voters each have to cast at least eight votes on different ballots. The Southern voters each have 12 votes to fill in on separate ballot papers. So the 12 million Northern voters will potentially fill in 104 million ballots. The 4 million Southerners will have to tick another 50 million votes on separate forms to be put in separate ballot boxes. Potentially, there could be up to 150 million votes to count. It will be the first elections for Southern Sudan since 1953. Altogether there are 17,000 candidates running for office. None of them are permitted to contest for two positions simultaneously.”

source: http://radiodabanga.org/?p=12143

with all of these problems facing this election the NEC is pushing to make this election as legitimate as possible or that what they say they want.!!!

there has also been problems facing people, such as taking long time to understand the process or even understand the process in the specified time of 3 min for every voter.

with the second day starting, we will see more of news emerging about the process of election in Sudan, i hope that they continue concentrating on the legitimacy of this election tell the end of the election period. feel free to comment  or tell me what you think of the process and how it is going.

Riz Khan Ignoring Sudan- interviewing General Scott Gration

an interesting interview with Scott Gration Special Envoy to Sudan  and michael gaouette head of sudan team at UN HQ .  the interview take on a interesting curve especial in  3:45 to 6:05 and in 7:30 to 8:30 so for sure justice is guaranteed to be served it just matter of time and democratic changes :)

 

 

feel free to comment and tell me what you think.

France:We Invite Sudan but not the president of Sudan.

 

France just started sending out letter of invitation for it Franco-African summit  which is expected to be held may. France has also invited sudan for the summit but it clearly stated that it expects somebody other than Pres. Omar Hassan AlBashir to come to the summit. The interesting thing is that the summit has originally been stated to be held in Egypt but due to the fact that Egypt might allow the president of Sudan to visit the summit, news article say that the summit has been moved to Nice,France. I guess the French do make it clear to everyone their opinion on the situation that the Sudan is facing today. I guess many European Union  states will follow the same action that Pres. Nicolas Sarkozy made to tighten the grip on the Sudanese president.

 

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has asked Sudan to take part in a Franco-African summit in May, but has made clear that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir should not attend, the Elysee said on Monday.

Sarkozy's office said Bashir would not be welcome.

"The president has indeed sent a letter to Omar Hassan al-Bashir to ask him to nominate the person who will represent Sudan at the Franco-African summit," said an official, making clear that the Sudanese leader himself could not come.

The summit had originally been set to take place in Egypt but France was concerned that Cairo would invite Bashir in person so reached a deal to switch the meeting to the French Riviera city of Nice, leaving Paris in charge of invitations.

Sudan's state news agency SUNA said that in his letter to Bashir, Sarkozy had also expressed France's gratitude for the recent release of French hostages in the region.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62L2B720100322

In Memory of Endurance Idahor

in march 8 and in a shocking scene Almarekh player endurance idahor just fell down in the middle of the game and pass away several minutes after, he was born in 1984 and one of Almarekh best player. He is survived by his wife and two children. i just found this clip in his memory while surfing on youtube.

 

Sudan opposition seek poll delay.

delaying the election is still a debatable issue, it is going to be an interesting year.

Please take the moment to participate in the poll found on your right side bar.

Carter Center says Sudan elections process at risk

hello everyone, here we go

March 19, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – The Carter Center issued a preliminary statement on the final stages of Sudan’s electoral process saying the process "remains at risk on multiple fronts including the ability of candidates to campaign freely" and the potentially negative impact from delayed logistical preparations.

i kind of sense that this election would be postponed, now that all of these news article are showing up, like the one above i think that might be an inevitable choice for the Sudanese people.

also

In a dramatic statement, the Carter Center said "it is increasingly unclear if the NEC can deliver a successful election on time," citing limited NEC and UN transportation capacity, the massive volume of materials to be deployed, the re-packaging of materials necessitated by changes in the planned number of polling stations, voters per polling station, and delays in ballots production.

now this tells me that thing are not going well and postponing the election is going to be for a big change in the NEC commission.

also don't forget this article Sudan opposition want elections moved to November, slams UNMIS official

which state

March 13, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — A number of presidential candidates in Sudan has jointly called on the April elections to be postponed by seven months till next November and submitted a proposed formation for the National elections committee (NEC).

The Umma Party runner for president Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi hosted a meeting at his residence in Omdurman agreed on steps that need to be taken for achieving democratic transformation and establishing an "impartial" board to monitor the work of the NEC in terms of administration and finances, creating a body consisting of presidential nominees with rotating head, rescheduling elections to resolve a number outstanding issues.

just when i thought thing are getting on track it seems it is not, after talking to some Sudanese friend of mine i also got the same impression that this election is not going to be in april, but i guess that just people opinion that fact has not been yet state clearly.

but as always there are others who think differently

 

lets wait and see.

Salam :)

China in Africa and it effect on the Sudan.

China has become Sudan largest trade partner for the last past years, it is starting many project in Africa targeting natural resources such as oil. here is a view about China involvement in the Sudan. China is involved in many countries in Africa, such as Sudan, Zambia, Algeria and Nigeria.  they are for sure dumping defected products in the Sudan as i have been there and seen the level of product they are providing for the Sudanese people, it is by far low price with a guaranteed of usage of 1 time only. At the end the sudanese goverment should have standard to prevent china from dumping these defected product in the sudan, we need to have a standard to quality mangment the same we had 20 year ago not the one we have now.  Rizkhan from Aljazeera has a wonderful debate about this issue.

 

 

 

Feel free to comment and tell me what you think, if you are from Africa tell me what china is doing in your country.

China-Sudan relationship, an interesting cartoon

while surfing the net i found this cartoon, interesting one also some aspects are true. well i will let you be the judge.

There is more to Sudan then what we see in TV

the other side of Sudan, the side that we long for many times. i cannot wait to go there.

Upcoming Sudanese election and The Compressive peace agreement Past, Present and the Future expectation

a debate between SPLM and the NCP ruling parties of the Sudan has been broadcasted in Aljazeera channel Inside story, both are main partner in the CPA Compressive peace agreement. Both agreed to stay in power for the years from 2005 to the upcoming election year in 2010, this in which there would be a democratic election to elect the new government. the debate talks about the result of the census, electoral law and the CPA agreement. i have posted a post about the census previously because i think this might cause a problem in the future because there is no full agreement as to the legitimacy of the census from the SPLM side. keeping in mind that the census effect the future distribution of power and wealth distribution. hence the argument of it legitimacy from the SPLM party.

the debate touches on key points in the CPA agreement but the main point i think is that the need to include other parties that are part of the National alliance to try to resolve the situation for the upcoming next year election. it is clear that both side is trying to get the best of the CPA agreement but there is an important point that is overshadowed by this agreement which is the absent of other political parties in Sudan and the Darfur conflict that is still in need to be resolved.these upcoming month are crucial times for the peace process and for the upcoming election in 2010.

PS: feel free to comment.

The wireless camel,telecommunication in Sudan.

The wireless camel. an interesting documentary about Sudan growing telecommunication market. when i was there almost everyone owned a mobile, they are popular and at good range of price to all level of income. there are even machines that would recharge your cell phone with a 1 Sudanese pound of credited which is equivalent to 50cent. the market is there and it would grow as the economy grows.

An insider look at the Darfur Struggles

i has been long since my last post. but i have been busy watching documentaries and debates about Sudan and other countries in the area. some of these debate are very much on the point about Sudan but some of them seems to be out of bound and are not talking about the Sudan that we Sudanese know. there is an interesting debate from The BBC hardtalk show and i wish to shear it here. feel free to comment on the show, and hope to read your thoughts

the hardtalk show is with Tadjadine Bashir Niam the  Secretary of External Affairs for the United Resistance Front. it gives an insider perspective in the Darfur struggle in Sudan.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/8077553.stm

Sudan presses new Press Law, What dose it means for journalist

         Finally the Sudanese national Assembly passed Sudan new press law on Monday June 8. but the question is what is the deference between the first draft and the final draft of this press law. is there still remain some restriction to the right of journalist or not in this new press law.I have posted a blog post about this law when it was in the bill stage (proposed Law stage)  in a blog post titled STOP Censorship: Sudan Government tries to issue law on journalism. the bill has finally became a law and it has been passed.  nonetheless as i asked previously what is the deference from the first draft and the final draft of this law. to answer this question lets just go back in time and see what had happened inside Sudan National Assembly Parliament that led to this law bill to change for lesser restriction against journalist. when the bill was suggested in the National Assembly many members of the parliament have abandoned there seat to exit the building in a strong retributive reaction toward the bill. in this post i would like to state what was the restriction that the bill imposed and what wore the reaction of some parliament members toward this law.

for example a spoke personal from the national alliance stated

Parliamentary member Farouk Abu-Issa, head of the National Democratic Alliance,
who calls the bill “unjust, repressive and vague”, says that he and other independent deputies presented a “good democratic draft of [a] press law”, but this was ignored by parliament.

and also for example an editor-in chief of a news paper

Murtada al-Ghali, editor-in chief of the Freedom Bells newspaper, described the draft law as the most “restrictive” media legislation to emerge in Sudan.

“The law insists… on punishment,” he said, “[and] it is aggressive punishment.”

Some of the most controversial issues that circled around this bill was the finical punishment  and banning/suspension punishment toward the newspaper or the Author. The financial punishment  toward the newspaper or the author could reach up to 50,000 Sudanese Pounds or 21,000 US dollar which is a huge sum of money in a developing country such as Sudan for a journalist. in case of the banning/suspension  of the newspaper of the journalist articles the duration is to be decided by the court. the new change in the bill from it first draft is that the payment of 21,000 US has been removed but the court can assign a payment penalty to a journalist or the newspaper. in the banning/suspension case it is still under the court jurisdiction to decide the time and the duration of the suspension. of course what i have just discussed in this post is just the tip of the iceberg in the criteria and requirement that comes with the passing of this law on journalist and newspaper. Nevertheless the good news is that the change toward more freedom of expression and less restriction and punishment has been felt in the final draft of this article more this it first draft. as one of the newpaper editor in chief state that the change to the final version from the first version is almost 80%. this of course after many protest toward the law from outside(by journalist) and and inside the parliament(by parliament Members).

As for my reaction lets just say no comment!!!!!!!. but here is what i can say there still hopes in changing this law and i hope for those parliament members to push more for lesser restriction before the upcoming election in 2010. as for you dear reader i know i cant request you to shear your thought in this case(sorry for the no comment statement) , but wishes that if you have any comment or an issues you wish to state please feel free to do so.

 

article related to this law

Reuters: Sudan gets new press law but restrictions remain

All Africa: Sudan: Press Law Storm

Sudan Tribune: Sudanese parliament pass new press law

Technorati Tags: Africa, Sudan, Press, Mass Media, Newspaper

Finding Nemo in Sudan by the Red Sea!!!

 

     PortSudan is the main port of Sudan. There in the red sea you can go scuba diving,sightsee the wonderful scenery, or even do some fishing. The red sea is known for many things but I didn't know that Nemo lives there. Yes Nemo. I guess that why there was a shark in finding nemo Animation movie, by the way the red sea is known to have sharks too, now this I know, I know it had sharks but not Nemo. After all Sudan is part of Nemo’s home. I think they first nickname the anemone fish aka clownfish Nemo in Finding Nemo animation movie, it seems maybe the name Nemo comes from anemone where a,n and one e is removed and the rest is rearranged to Nemo but after all that just my guess. I have added a clip that I saw about anemone blow.

Special thank to the person who uploaded the clip to YouTube. Thank you

 

Amazing facts about Anemone fish aka Clown fish aka Nemo. from here by referred to by Nemo

Anemone is the name of a sea polyp where Nemo and his family can live safely and happily from other fish EXCEPT FROM THE EVIL HUMANS.

Nemo fish has what might be called symbiosis relation with sea Anemone in the sea by which

1. Nemo lives in the Sea Anemone and has immunity against the Anemone poisonous tentacles.

2. Nemo fish usually venture around the sea Anemone and bring back food in forum of predator so that Anemone use it poisonous tentacles to attach it and then eat it.

3. It is said that if a Nemo is lost in sea or doesn’t find his sea Anemone(home) he has high chance of dying.

Technorati Tags: Africa,Sudan,Red Sea