Sudan: NCP Threatens Not to Recognize the Referendum Outcome

20 November 2010

Khartoum — The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday expressed its dissatisfaction with the voter registration process for the South Sudan referendum in the North saying there were clear violations that undermines the credibility of the process.

Mandoor Al-Mahdi, a senior NCP official, told the government sponsored Sudanese Media Center (SMC) that the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM), in control of the South, is exercising intimidation against potential voters in the capital and also those urging Southerners to register.

The official alleged that SPLM members are present at polling stations to persuade Southerners not to register. He added that these incidents were reported to the South Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) to rectify the situation but no action was taken.

The presidential adviser and NCP figure Al-Sheik Beesh told SMC that they will not recognize the outcome of the referendum if the registration process continues in this non-transparent manner.

Voter registration began on Monday for the January 2011 referendum on whether oil-producing southern Sudan should secede from the north. It is widely expected that Southerners will choose independence.

In Khartoum, registration centers were empty as many southerners who live in the Sudanese capital made the trip south to enroll or abstained from registering altogether for fear of intimidation by the ruling party in the North.

The presidential assistant Nafie Ali Nafie toured the registration centers in Khartoum this week and appeared visibly angry on TV saying that the low turnout was a result of SPLM instructions. He has also reportedly clashed with poll workers after they turned away a prospective voter who did not have the required documentation to register.

However, the SPLM made similar accusations to the NCP that it is seeking to pressure Southerners in the North to vote for unity through "citizens' committees" by collecting the phone numbers of those who registered.

The SPLM's Atem Garang said southerners were being told: "You must vote for unity when you come and vote next time."

"It is intimidation. It is against the law," Garang told a news conference in Khartoum. He also denied that they had asked Southerners in the North to boycott the registration process.

"The southern Sudanese, we never urged them not to register because we want them to be free. When we talk about a free and fair referendum, it means when you are going to registration you must be free. We did not to talk to them to boycott the registration," Garang said.

Around five million southerners, living in both north and south Sudan and abroad, are eligible to sign up for the referendum which could result in the African continent's largest country being split into two.

For the south to secede in a valid referendum, there must be an absolute majority of a minimum of 50 percent for independence plus one vote, and 60 percent of those eligible must also have cast their ballots.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/201011220006.html.