PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Sudan referendum: World's newest state set to emerge?
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The much-awaited referendum to decide whether or not Southern Sudan will remain a part of Africa's largest country, Sudan, got underway Sunday with the possibility that the world's newest country could emerge at the end of the process.
Nearly four million Southern Sudanese are converging on 3,000 polling stations in and outside the Sudan to decide whether a new member state - Southern Sudan - will join the African Union (AU), or reinforce the dream of the founding fathers that African should unite further.
A overwhelming 'YES' vote will mean a new African state has gained independence, even though others will see it as a negation of the dream of African founding fathers for a united continent.
However, as Libyan leader Moammar Kadhafi put it at the Afro-Arab summit meeting in Tripoli last year, it could go nowhere but be part of the United States of Africa - an interpretation that leaves everybody in a win-win situation.
On Saturday, Chair of the South Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC), Prof. Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, told a press conference that his commission was ready for the historic vote.
He said the number of registered eligible voters is 3,930,916, including 3,753,815 in the south, 116,860 in the north and 60,241abroad, and reminded all that the result of the referendum would be acceptable if the turnout exceeded 60% of the registered voters.
“Our duty is only to organize the process, without any interference in the choices of the southerners in accordance with the jurisdictions and powers bestowed on us” he stressed, adding: "We are not concerned with the result of the voting but we are responsible for conducting the polling in a fair, transparent and proper manner in accordance with the suitable environment of security and freedom.''
He said the polling would be observed by the Intergovernmental Authority of Development (IGAD) and its partners, witnesses to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), civil society organizations and political parties.
He said the referendum Act identified the security principles of the plebiscite as full neutrality, non-interference by the security authorities, respect for freedom of expression, self-restraint and maintenance of peace and order.
Prof. Khali said the result of the polling would be announced a month from the start of the voting, which is 15 February, but that the work of the Commission would continue till the end of the six-month transitional period - 9 July - so as to complete the referendum-related administrative procedures.
According to SSRC Spokesperson Suaad Ibrahim Eissa, the Commission has manned each polling centre with three well-trained staff members, in addition to policemen to secure the operation.
The domestic and foreign monitors exceeded a thousand in number, Eissa said.
The SSRC has, since Monday, made public lists of the eligible voters at each polling centre.
Since Saturday, police units have been deployed in and around he polling centres, at least in Khartoum, and the authorities said over 17,500 policemen will be around to see to it that no voter is harassed
Meanwhile, the main international monitors of the referendum, the AU, The Carter Centre, the European Union, IGAD and the League of Arab States, have issued a joint statement commending the process.
They congratulated the Parties to the CPA, the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) and the Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau (SSRB) ''for their efforts to organize and facilitate the referendum process”.
The statement said the international observers “urge all parties and the people of Sudan to work for a peaceful and inclusive referendum that respects the right of citizens to vote freely without fear of intimidation, coercion or violence”.
-0- PANA MO/SEG 9Jan2011
Nearly four million Southern Sudanese are converging on 3,000 polling stations in and outside the Sudan to decide whether a new member state - Southern Sudan - will join the African Union (AU), or reinforce the dream of the founding fathers that African should unite further.
A overwhelming 'YES' vote will mean a new African state has gained independence, even though others will see it as a negation of the dream of African founding fathers for a united continent.
However, as Libyan leader Moammar Kadhafi put it at the Afro-Arab summit meeting in Tripoli last year, it could go nowhere but be part of the United States of Africa - an interpretation that leaves everybody in a win-win situation.
On Saturday, Chair of the South Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC), Prof. Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, told a press conference that his commission was ready for the historic vote.
He said the number of registered eligible voters is 3,930,916, including 3,753,815 in the south, 116,860 in the north and 60,241abroad, and reminded all that the result of the referendum would be acceptable if the turnout exceeded 60% of the registered voters.
“Our duty is only to organize the process, without any interference in the choices of the southerners in accordance with the jurisdictions and powers bestowed on us” he stressed, adding: "We are not concerned with the result of the voting but we are responsible for conducting the polling in a fair, transparent and proper manner in accordance with the suitable environment of security and freedom.''
He said the polling would be observed by the Intergovernmental Authority of Development (IGAD) and its partners, witnesses to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), civil society organizations and political parties.
He said the referendum Act identified the security principles of the plebiscite as full neutrality, non-interference by the security authorities, respect for freedom of expression, self-restraint and maintenance of peace and order.
Prof. Khali said the result of the polling would be announced a month from the start of the voting, which is 15 February, but that the work of the Commission would continue till the end of the six-month transitional period - 9 July - so as to complete the referendum-related administrative procedures.
According to SSRC Spokesperson Suaad Ibrahim Eissa, the Commission has manned each polling centre with three well-trained staff members, in addition to policemen to secure the operation.
The domestic and foreign monitors exceeded a thousand in number, Eissa said.
The SSRC has, since Monday, made public lists of the eligible voters at each polling centre.
Since Saturday, police units have been deployed in and around he polling centres, at least in Khartoum, and the authorities said over 17,500 policemen will be around to see to it that no voter is harassed
Meanwhile, the main international monitors of the referendum, the AU, The Carter Centre, the European Union, IGAD and the League of Arab States, have issued a joint statement commending the process.
They congratulated the Parties to the CPA, the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) and the Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau (SSRB) ''for their efforts to organize and facilitate the referendum process”.
The statement said the international observers “urge all parties and the people of Sudan to work for a peaceful and inclusive referendum that respects the right of citizens to vote freely without fear of intimidation, coercion or violence”.
-0- PANA MO/SEG 9Jan2011
