There has been some SPLM intimidation but been few allegations of rigging and no boycotts.

ECONOMIST: Rigged in the north, more or less fair in the south

Yet a state built solely on the SPLM's narrative is bound to disappoint.

ECONOMIST: Sudan's separation

But whether the SPLM would then do a good job is increasingly doubtful.

ECONOMIST: Sudan's coming elections: How did it come to this? | The

Sudan says SPLM-North is getting weapons and supplies from South Sudan, and that its fighters go there to rest after battles.

ECONOMIST: Sudan and South Sudan

The SPLM must share the blame for this sorry state of affairs.

ECONOMIST: Sudan's coming elections: How did it come to this? | The

But he said the SPLM was ready to sit down for negotiations with the northern ruling National Congress Party to overcome the crisis.

BBC: South Sudan's referendum vote reaches 60%, says SPLM

Known as SPLM-North, they supported the decades-long southern fight for independence but found themselves on the wrong side of the border at separation.

ECONOMIST: Sudan and South Sudan

That was the sort of grand coalition envisaged by John Garang, the SPLM's long-time leader, and it might well have unseated President Bashir.

ECONOMIST: Sudan's coming elections: How did it come to this? | The

Ms. KING: Official parties here, the Sudanese government, the United Nations, the SPLM, they're all saying that this will not affect the peace agreement.

NPR: Violence in Sudan Subsiding as Government Urges Calm

Both of President Bashir's main rivals, Sadiq al-Mahdi of Umma and Yassir Arman of the former southern rebels, the SPLM, are boycotting the presidential election.

BBC: Sudan President Bashir insists elections will be fair

Returning to Juba from a visit to Abyei, the SPLM's Secretary General Pagan Amum said the situation in the border region was now calm, although still tense.

BBC: South Sudan's referendum vote reaches 60%, says SPLM

The Dr John Garang Memorial University, named in honour of the SPLM's former leader who died in a helicopter crash in 2005, was set up in 2008.

ECONOMIST: South Sudan

The sweeping victory of Mr Kiir effectively confirms the division of the country into two distinct political entities, as the SPLM boycotted most of the poll in the north.

ECONOMIST: Now that Bashir has won the election, what next for Sudan?

In the south the SPLM faced even less competition.

ECONOMIST: Now that Bashir has won the election, what next for Sudan?

There is also the dogmatism of the SPLM.

ECONOMIST: Sudan's separation