Sudan leader set to extend chaotic rule in lackluster vote
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, the world's only sitting leader wanted on genocide charges, is expected to win a landslide victory in elections this week, extending a 25-year reign in which the country has endured multiple insurgencies and the secession of the oil-rich south.
Despite Sudan's seemingly perpetual unrest, al-Bashir survived the 2011 Arab Spring. His ruling party dominates the parliament and local councils, and the massive security apparatus has left the once-vibrant opposition a husk of its former self.
Al-Bashir has ruled the country since taking power in a 1989 coup, but billboards across Khartoum showing him in traditional robes or military fatigues proclaim: "We lead reform, we continue the renaissance."
The unrest sweeping the region may have convinced many Sudanese that al-Bashir's continued rule is preferable to the even greater chaos that could follow his departure.
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Sudan-leader-set-to-extend-chaotic-rule-in-6194656.php