The citizens of Juba in Central Equatoria were not concerned about the Presidency of the Republic or that of the Governemnt of Southern Sudan. Bashir and Salva Kiir are the expected winners, no one doubted that.
In the election, the battle ground states were Central Equatoria, Westen Equatoria and Unity States, where the independent candidates were more popular than the SPLM candidates. People fee that the SPLM official candidats are being force on them, and they turn to show their disatisfaction by vooting for the independent candidates.
However, things have not turn out as expected. In Central Equatoria, the incumbent SPLM Candidate got through as well as in Unity State. The initial results show that the independents were leading, but due to pressure, the State election officilas have to succumb to pressure and announce the incumbents winners. Too bad for a fledgeling democracy, if you can call it that. The SPLM seems determined to ensure that their candidates get the positions, like their partners in the North.
One success story is worth celebrating: Western Equatoria independent candidate defeated the SPLM incumbent governor, the unpopular Jemma Nunu by a narrow margin. The SPLM failed to get that state due to many factors, one of which is the Election Officials strick abidance by the rules.
The citizens of Central Equatori feel that they have been robbed of a leader, one who will safe them from misrule and corruption of the incumbent. They will only have to look at their neighbour's luck with longing.
If democracy was born in the West, it had certainly been buried in the jungles of Southern Sudan . . .
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