The Lessons of the Sudan
The parties that received Egyptian support in the Sudanese elections have won a far clearer victory (almost a clear majority) than was expected by the Sudan Government or anyone else. This in itself has a number of serious consequences, if only because it will be interpreted as support for the view that the more Britain withdraws the outward manifestations of her power, the greater will be the demand for further withdrawals. India, Abadan, and the negotiations on the Canal Zone, so the Imperialists will argue, were'the most potent influences at work in the Sudan elections. It is a dangerous argument, because in part it is true. But those who use it forget, or ignore, what are the possible alternatives in the mid-twentieth century. The penalty of withdrawal may be severe, but the penalty of not withdrawing may be a free gift to the Communists of that most precious of all political war cries—nationalism. Thus if the Sudanese have been enabled to vote the British out, they have at least not been encouraged to enlist Moscow's support in driving them out. Furthermore, though the elections must be counted a defeat for Britain, there are limitations to the extent that they are a victory for Egypt. What has happened is that a group df heterogeneous. parties, who agreed to coalesce as a condition of receiving Egyptian support, have defeated a number 'of independent parties who wished to have no connec- tion with Egypt. But to go to the polls under Egypt's banner is one thing and to arrange a union with Egypt when in power is another. Thp National Unionist Party ranges from those political groups who have, in the past, acknowledged Farouk as King of the Sudan, to those religious groups (the Moslem Khatmia) whose first objective was not union with Egypt but the defeat of other religious groups (the Mahdists). And even the president of the National Unionists, Mr. Azhari, lost no time, once the results were known, in pointing out that the interests of Egypt and the Sudan are in important respects divergent. The elections are over; the relations between Egypt and the Sudan have still to be decided.
Previous page
