Sudan elections: inaugurating the last unified political order?

The post-electoral political order in Sudan will perhaps be the last unified order and the country?s most contested. Elections were held in a volatile and complex environment, instituting the governments of Southern Sudan and of the Republic of Sudan, and inaugurating an era of great uncertainty. As Africa?s largest nation attempts a monumental secession exercise in January 2011 the political elites and representatives will carry the burden of ensuring the peaceful and consensual separation of the country. However, on the basis of a contested political order this might become an impossible feat.