Sudan Referendum Bill Breeds Contempt

Fred Oluoch
10 January 2010

Nairobi — The Sudanese parliament has finally passed the controversial referendum Bill, but there is no guarantee of an orderly referendum in 2011.

The common feeling among the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) is that the leadership in Khartoum might devise new tricks in their determination to stop the South from seceding.

The SPLM members also feel the Security Bill is promoting dictatorship and one-man rule contrary to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that calls for the entrenchment of democracy and freedom of association and speech.

The Abyei referendum law and the popular consultations in the states of Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile are also bones of contention. These two states are geographically in the North but the majority of the population hails from the South.

According to the CPA, Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile will not participate in the 2011 referendum. Citizens will elect their members of parliament, who will decide on their behalf where they belong.

Many SPLM supporters are now appealing to Vice President Salva Kiir to unilaterally declare the South's independence out of fear that the NCP will manipulate the referendum in favor of a united Sudan.

According to the Government of Southern Sudan's head of mission in Nairobi, John Andruga Duku, the challenge still remains in the implementation, even though the referendum law was passed to the satisfaction of the south.

He argued that the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) has been a big disappointment as it has failed to engage the partners as the custodians of the peace deal.

"Igad must call for a special meeting to breathe life into the CPA implementation process. The implementation of the referendum law will be a big problem and the international community must come to our aid to ensure that it is fully implemented," he said.

Wrong timing

The 2011 referendum will be held in accordance with the 2005 peace accord that ended two decades of civil war between the former rebel SPLM, which now rules the semi-autonomous South and Khartoum's National Congress Party.

But the passage of the law to guide the process of the referendum came to a standstill when SPLM disputed modifications introduced by the NCP at a time when they and other opposition parties had boycotted parliament.

The SPLM's position was that those Northerners who claim to be Southerners should move to the south for confirmation by their respective local chiefs before they can register and vote within the South.

But there was a compromise in which southern citizens living in the North will be allowed to register and vote in the constituency they currently live in.

Since the signing of the CPA almost five years ago, the semi-autonomous South has been facing numerous challenges. The government is struggling to attract investment, encourage local entrepreneurship and ensure its security and stability.

There is also concern that next year's general election could leave out some eligible voters unless there is peace in Darfur and implementation of the remaining phases of the CPA is fast-tracked.

There is growing public frustration, especially in the South, over repeated delays in implementing the CPA. The referendum Bill was expected in 2008 and demarcation of the North-South border was also due in the first six months of the signing of the CPA.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201001111505.html.