President Omar al-Bashir was officially declared the winner of Sudan's national elections Monday, while President Salva Kiir was declared re-elected as the leader of the semi-autonomous South Sudan government.

The Sudan Tribune reported from Khartoum that the electoral commission reported that Bashir had won 68.2 percent of votes nationally, while the southern candidate for the national presidency, Yasir Arman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), had won 21.7 percent.

In the south, Salva Kiir, who is chairman of the SPLM, won 93 percent of the vote. His challenger, Lam Akol Ajawin of the SPLM for Democratic Change
(SPLM-DC), won seven percent.

The election results, which confirm the status quo, come as no surprise. Despite widespread criticism of the polling, the leaders of Bashir's National Congress Party and the SPLM were reported to have met last week to agree to accept the results and to form another unity government.

Ahead of the announcement of the results, the SPLM secretary-general, Pa'gan Amum, said in Juba that the southern government's top priorities included providing leadership for next January's referendum on self-determination for the south.

Many in the SPLM seek independence for their territory, reflected in Kiir's decision to stand not for the national presidency but for leadership of the south.