War-crimes accused Bashir sworn-in as President
Omar Al-Bashir was sworn-in as President of Sudan for another five years. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Bashir won the elections with a landslide victory. "Our programme for the next five years will look to the future, and we will open a new page" he said, after taking the oath at the National Assembly in the city of Omdurman.
Omar Al-Bashir was re-elected as National Congress Party's leader and Presidential candidate. As the head of the ruling party, the Sudanese President was chosen to stand for re-election in 2015. He has been in power since the 1989 coup. ICC issued an arrest warrant for Bashir, on the charges of genocide and war crimes. He dismissed them and refused to deal with the court.
Omar Al-Bashir, wanted by ICC over alleged atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region, has hailed the court's suspension of further investigations. The investigations were halted to "shift resources to other urgent cases". Darfur entered into conflict in 2003 when ethnic insurgents rebelled against the Govt. for being marginalized. President Bashir accused ICC as one of the "tools aimed to humiliate and subjugate" his country.
Al-Bashir is the only sitting head of state facing genocide charges at the ICC. Before seizing power, he was a commander in the army responsible for leading operations against rebels in the South of Sudan.
Sudan had begun voting for the Presidential election, which was widely in favor of the President Omar Al-Bashir. Nearly 13 million people were registered to vote. Bashir, who ruled Sudan unchallenged for 25-years was expected to win the election without major opposition. Opposition parties boycotted the vote, citing lack of freedom of speech and assembly.
Sudan's incumbent president Omar Al-Bashir won with 94% of the votes in the re-election. The voting which took place over four days had a voter turnout estimated at 46.4%. The opposition boycotted the vote, after the Government's refusal to postpone elections and said it would not recognize the election results. It is significant for Bashir to remain in power amidst the ICC's accusations.
