South Sudan Referendum

By Xinhua, AFP and IRIN

South Sudan’s referendum “historic milestone,” says top UN envoy

With the completion of the referendum in south Sudan just days ago, the top United Nations envoy for Sudan on Tuesday lauded it as "historic milestone," laying down a foundation for the future peace and stability, while also stressing, the continued support from the international community to sustain efforts.

"Sudan is on the eve of a new dawn, and it is going to need a heavy dose of encouragement and support from the international community to make sure committed implementation of the CPA ( Comprehensive Peace Agreement) signifies a final and definitive break with the past and opens a new era of prosperity and stability for all Sudanese," the special representative of the UN secretary-general in Sudan, Haile Menkerios, told the Security Council via telecom on an open meeting of the region.

On Saturday, South Sudan referendum polling centers closed. The referendum will determine whether south Sudan remains a part of Sudan or becomes independent, in accordance with the 2005 CPA that ended a long-running north-south civil war.

With the "peaceful conclusion of polling" in spite of short time frame and logistical challenges, Menkerios applauded the " remarkable polling process."

"As we move into the final six months of the CPA interim period, much remains to be done," he highlighted. "Hopefully, the successful completion of the Southern Sudan referendum, would help enhance confidence between the two parties, and help them make the necessary compromises to find solutions to the future status of Abyei and a host of other pending issues."

People in the oil-producing Abyei were promised a referendum on Jan. 9 on whether to join the north or south, but the plebiscite was postponed due to a dispute over whether the nomadic tribe of Misseria, who enter Abyei for a few months each year to graze cattle, should be given the right to vote.

Uncertainty over Abyei continues to "present a risk to peace and stability on the ground," he noted, citing the recent clashes between local Dinka police force and Misseria communities.

"Continued absence of a final settlement for the future status of Abyei leaves open the possibility of further clashes between the communities on the ground," Menkerios said, as he called on parties to redouble efforts.

The referendum's preliminary results are expected to be announced by Feb. 2, and depending on whether appeals are launched in the courts, the final result will be declared on Feb. 7 or 14.

Source: Xinhua 

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South Sudan capital votes 97.5% to break away

JUBA, Sudan — The once sleepy south Sudan town of Juba that hopes to become the world's newest national capital opted 97.5 percent for independence, preliminary results from a landmark vote showed Wednesday.

There were 211,018 votes cast for independence for the mainly Christian, African region against just 3,650 for continued unity with the mainly Arab, Muslim north, the head of Juba county referendum sub-committee, Timon Wani, announced to applause and cheers.

Full preliminary results from some of the south's 10 states showed landslides for secession as high as 99 percent.

In Lakes state, centred on the town of Rumbek which served as rebel headquarters during the 1983-2005 civil war with the north, 298,216 of the 300,444 votes cast were for independence, 99.924 percent of the total.

Just 227 were for continued unity with the north -- 0.076 percent of the total -- with the balance made up of blank or invalid ballots.

In Western Bahr al-Ghazal state, centred on one of the south's three big cities Wau, 153,839 of the 162,594 votes cast were for secession, 94.6 percent of the total. There were just 7,237 votes for continued union with the north.

In Unity state, the south's main oil-producing area, with 472,000 votes so far collated, organisers reported more than 471,000 votes for independence and just 91 for unity.

Source: AFP

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Sudan: Referendum vote over, now hard work begins

JUBA, 19 January 2011 (IRIN) - The referendum vote on the future of Southern Sudan defied critics by passing off peacefully, but the region still faces challenges that could threaten stability, say experts and officials.

“The referendum environment was peaceful, secure and orderly to allow voters in large numbers to exercise their democratic rights with relative ease,” Victor Tonchi, head of the African Union observer mission, told reporters at the release of a preliminary report on 16 January.

Despite previous warnings of the risk of violence, the 9-15 January voting period was peaceful and calm, observers said. Enthusiastic voters queued patiently for hours, with a high turnout in the South. The numbers were, however, far lower in the North.

“This is our moment in history, when we get to choose our destiny for the first time in our lives,” voter Susan Tombe said. “Nothing is more important to us as the people of the South, and nobody would do anything to spoil it.”

The referendum is the climax of a 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war. That conflict claimed some two million lives, according to observers.

Final results are not due to be released until 14 February, but early returns suggest an overwhelming support for secession, a view backed by the US-based Carter Center.

“Based on early reports of vote-counting results, it appears virtually certain that the results will be in favour of secession,” it said in a 17 January statement. “The Center finds that the referendum process to date is broadly consistent with international standards for democratic elections and represents the genuine expression of the will of the electorate.”

US President Barack Obama congratulated Sudan on the peaceful vote. "The sight of so many Sudanese casting their votes in a peaceful and orderly fashion was an inspiration to the world and a tribute to the determination of the people and leaders of South Sudan to forge a better future," Obama said on 16 January.

Similar sentiments were expressed by observers including the Arab League, the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and European Union.

Before 9 July, when the South could potentially become independent, observers say key issues remain outstanding. These include negotiations on citizenship, the sharing of oil revenues - with reserves mainly in the South, but pipelines only running North; border demarcation and Sudan’s crippling debt, estimated at US$38 billion.

Abyei

One key concern is the border area of Abyei, where at least 30 people were killed in clashes as voting began.

Abyei was due to hold a separate referendum at the same time as the South, when its residents would decide whether to become part of the North or South. But progress on that vote remains in deadlock, with the largely Northern-supported Misseriya community – who travel through the region annually to graze their cattle – demanding a right to vote.

That demand is rejected by the largely Southern-supported Dinka Ngok people, and Southerners, who say only permanent residents should be allowed to vote. A deal signed on 17 January between Khartoum and Juba over Abyei agreed a raft of measures including boosting security with extra Joint Intergrated Units - the special North-South military force.

Observers suggest the issue of Abyei will now be wrapped in post-referendum negotiations, with the South working for an annexation of the land, and the North wanting to extract a hefty payment in debt, oil and border deals elsewhere. Such a deal would need to involve agreement from those on the ground, but many are still demanding their promised referendum goes ahead.

"Just as commitments were made for a Southern Sudan referendum, so were binding commitments made for an Abyei referendum," said Deng Mading of the civil society group, the Abyei Referendum Forum. "We must have resolution of our status."

According to Douglas Johnson, a Sudan expert and former member of the Abyei Boundaries Commission, “Abyei has so far proved to be the most difficult part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement [CPA] to implement, more difficult than the determination of the rest of the North-South boundary or the division of oil revenues."

Senior Southern officials such as Deng Alor have accused the North of backing militias in the region – claims rejected by Khartoum’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

“We are telling the NCP that it is better to stop doing this because when your house is built of glass don’t throw stones at people – the NCP is very vulnerable and they know it,” Alor, Minister for Regional Cooperation, said.

Johnson, while calling for the implementation of the referendum provisions before the end of the dry season in May, called for the creation of “long-term mechanisms” to enable both Misseriya and Dinka Ngok to “collaborate in secure annual movements of pastoralists”.

In spite of the tensions, the risk of renewed conflict is low, say some officials.

"We have spent so many years bleeding in the bush and losing our close friends and brothers, that both North and South will have to think twice about war," Gier Chuang, Southern Sudan's Internal Affairs Minister. “We are working for a peaceful, stable South Sudan."

Challenges

The key challenge is that major humanitarian and development problems remain. More than 180,000 Southerners have returned from the North in the past three months, adding pressure to communities already struggling to cope, according to figures released by Georg Charpentier, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan.

“Every effort is being made to ensure that the basic needs of the returnees are met, including food, access to water and sanitation, blankets and water,” Charpentier said.

But the long-term needs are huge. "The chronic poverty, lack of development and the threat of violence that blight people’s daily lives will not disappear after the referendum,” Melinda Young, head of Oxfam in Southern Sudan, said in a statement on the eve of the vote.

“Whatever the outcome of the vote, these long-term issues need to be addressed," Young added. "Failure to do so risks undoing any progress made in the past few years.”

Concern is also growing in the North, where observers fear a possible backlash if the South breaks away. Demonstrations over rising food prices have sparked concern, as inflation grows and the Sudanese pound has weakened against the dollar in recent months.

Veteran Islamist opposition politician Hassan al-Turabi was arrested on 18 January after calling for a Tunisian style uprising in the capital Khartoum.

“There are a lot of people thinking, now what happens to us in the North?” said a civil society activist in Khartoum, who asked not be named.

“We assume the South will be separate,” he added. “We have our problems too: Darfur and the east have had rebellions. Will they be the ones to ask, ‘now it is our turn?’” 

Source: IRIN