April 2010

Good discussion you should watch to get an idea on what’s happening. If there’s anything that I find really disturbing, it is the insistence of the two featured Northerners on applying Sharia law. They don’t even seem to have a clue about what democracy really means.

Democracy isn’t just “the rule of the majority.” It is the rule of the majority without infringing on the rights of the minority. One of  these rights is religious freedom.

Lovely.

Gosh, makes me so hopeful about this country’s future.

These guys ought to read Abdullahi An-Na’im’s book Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Sharia.

When I was busy keeping track of the last US presidential race, I was baffled by the apathetic attitude displayed by some of my American friends towards their country’s future. One of them is a US Marine I went to school with, who fought in Iraq. I’ll never forget what he told me.

Me: So, dude, who are you voting for? Obama or McCain?

Friend: Man, I ain’t voting for nobody. F*ck that shit!

Me: Erm, why?

Friend: Man, they’re all full of shit anyway!

Me: So you’re willing to risk your life and fight for your country, but you’re not bothered to vote? Enlighten me please!

Friend: Like I said, they’re all full of shit anyway. What difference will it make?

If I had a magic crystal ball back then, I would have replied, “for a start, health care!” I should have added “withdrawing from Iraq” and a bunch of other foreign policy things that impact the world.

But that was America, and now that it’s Sudan’s turn, I am beginning to relate to my friend’s attitude. It’s funny really, because I didn’t expect myself to wind up here, especially after blogging so much about Sudan from 2006 to 2008.

I won’t vote in the Sudanese elections.

I won’t vote because:

1. I missed the voter registration date and hardly regretted it since I’ve never really believed in the predicted “change-bringing” effects of the expected elections. Hence, I can’t vote anyway even if I change my mind and wanted to.

2. Positive alternatives to Al-Bashir with an actual chance of winning are nil.

3. Assuming I registered, given that Al-Bashir is going to win any way, I would rather abstain from voting than vote for him.

4. Regardless of the “confidence” in the election process expressed by the US envoy to Sudan, the elections aren’t going to be fair or transparent.

5. Even if I’m wrong and the election process achieves some decent level of transparency and fairness, it still takes lots of money for parties and candidates to win, something that Al-Bashir and his NCP have a lot of, while the opposition is relatively broke, with the exception of the SPLM which is too corrupt and divided to even run itself properly anyway.

6. Quite frankly, I just don’t care about the political process anymore at the moment. It’s hopeless. I’ve been so disconnected and apathetic towards what’s happening, I no longer feel its relevance. Given the current circumstances, Sudan is a country in waiting with too many question marks ahead.

Now, I don’t want to put down the hopes of Sudanese who have passionately rallied their fellow citizens to vote and get involved in the election process. I admire them for that, but electing a new Sudanese president is a losing battle, which is why I find it hilarious when well-meaning but naive Westerners like Simon Tisdall express such a rosy view.

Don’t get me wrong, the elections as a milestone for Sudan are a very great thing! However, the election process itself as a means of electing a new government is a joke. So why do the US envoy to Sudan and Jimmy Carter seem to express a rather optimistic, albeit cautious views about the event? Well, to answer that, one first needs to notice that the US administration took a position contrary to that of the opposition parties in Sudan.

While many in the opposition wanted the elections to be postponed, the US pressed that they should continue on time, regardless of boycotts and threats of more boycotts by the opposition. This is because America views the historic event within the bigger and more important context in which it is happening: the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which has milestones and a timeline designed to lead to the Southern Sudan referendum in January 2011.

Therefore, this shouldn’t surprise anyone.

April 10, 2010 (JUBA) – The US Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, has welcomed the decision confirmed by the leadership of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) that it will participate in the elections in Northern Sudan states, saying it was important for the prioritized upcoming referendum in the South.

… Gration, who seemed to express satisfaction with the SPLM’s strategic political priorities, said his office was ready to assist in the contentious issues between the two peace-partners [NCP and SPLM] so that referendum on independence of Southern Sudan would be conducted as scheduled for January 2011.

Oh well, I wonder what it would have been like if John Garang was still around. Too bad he isn’t. And too bad Sudan doesn’t seem to have the strong necessary leadership in the opposition that’s capable of running a well-organized political party, let alone an entire fragile country that can disintegrate into another Somalia if it isn’t held together firmly.

Meanwhile, let the games begin! It’s time for those much-awaited and talked about elections! I will be keeping track of the news every now and then. And when 2011 has come and gone, let me know. I might get back to my former days of high engagement and interest.

Sudanese in the house, drop your comments and links to your blog posts below, if you have any please. A Global Voices round up is in the works.

I would love to hear your point of view.

Yalla, salam.

- Drima

That’s it. Enough of this shit. I’m not going to remain patient about it anymore. How much longer do I have to wait, lovely US State Department? Huh, HOW MUCH LONGER?!

For the first time ever, I am actually getting a taste of the nasty ordeals some friends have described to me in dealing with US Embassies or attempting to travel to America.

Given that I’ve only had the best experiences when traveling to the United States, and I’m used to receiving my visa within TWO WEEKS ONLY, I used to brush aside my friends’ complaints as isolated incidents.

Well, no more!

I applied on the 26th of January for my damn visa. 26th of JANUARY! Isn’t there like maximum waiting period of 60 days until you hear back or something? Apparently not.

Listen US State Department, I understand you have to do your security checks. Fine. I understand that sometimes the number of applications peaks and it takes time to sort things out. No problem. What I cannot and will not understand is how you keep people waiting indefinitely. That’s just complete and utter bullshit. At least give me a deadline damn it!

The meetings I had to go for. Delayed. The conference I was supposed to attend. Bye bye. Visiting my brother in Chicago. Whops, ain’t gonna happen. Traveling in California to meet friends who would have included some GlobalVoices folks. Sorry, forget it.

WORKING ON MY DAMN BOOK! Meh, too bad.

Seriously, WTF?

This needs to get resolved asap!

Like, resolved yesterday:

Since President Obama scolded the agencies for overlooking warning flags against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian charged with trying to blow up an Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight on Christmas Day, the checks have been reinforced and the lists have grown. With that comes a higher likelihood of “administrative processing” for visa applicants whose names may resemble those of terrorist suspects but who are “guilty” of nothing more than having Muslim parents.

… Said Mahrane, a French national born in Algeria and brought up in France, applied for a journalist’s visa to accompany President Nicolas Sarkozy to Washington this week as a correspondent for the weekly newsmagazine Le Point. His colleagues from other publications — with traditional French names — got their visas in a couple of days. But Mahrane’s never came through.

… Mami said at first he reasoned that the delay would not be a problem because orientation classes at Berkeley were to begin March 22. But when the visa had still not arrived by Feb. 15, he sent a registered letter to the embassy inquiring about the delay. The next day, a woman called and said such delays were common and could last weeks or even months, he said.

Muhammad, Jesus, Marry and Joseph! Weeks or even months? Are you freaking kidding me?

Read the whole thing here.

Thank you Washington Post for writing about this! Let’s hope somebody is listening, and is going to do something about it.

UPDATE: So, today, exactly one day after publishing this post, I received a call from the US Embassy informing me that I need to come and collect my visa. Coincidence?

Naaa, somebody in the White House probably read my post, asked the CIA to investigate my real identity, and then called up the US State Department and scolded them for keeping the one and only Drima waiting this long.

Blog Power baby! Right.

Pffffffffffft, okay, finally! At last, phew! I have my damn US visa. Next time if I have to travel, I am going to be sure to apply like two or three months in advance!

The honorable Drima looks forward to blessing the United States with his arrival soon. There better be red carpets waiting at the airport.