Sudanese government is drafting Darfur referendum decree – adviser
March 24, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese presidential adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen, who is in charge of the Darfur file, reiterated Wednesday his determination to hold a referendum on the administrative status of the region saying the government is working on a draft presidential decree.
Rebel groups participating in Doha talks said they are against the referendum as the government agreed to discuss the issue with them. Also the decision to hold the vote came out for the first time this month as the rebels refused to sign an agreement that does not give the region a particular administrative status.
The government is working on the legal draft of a presidential decree on the referendum for the President of the Republic to enact, Ghazi told reporters today in Khartoum after a meeting between President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and tribal leaders of the Fur ethnic group.
Ghazi said the referendum is due to be held next April as the Darfur Peace Agreement provides to organize the plebiscite twelve months after the general elections of April 2010. He added Sudan’s electoral board should begin to undertake the technical measures and the registration of the voter.
He underscored that this agreement reflects a political will to resolve the disputed issue. He said that negotiations with the rebels on the matter can not continue indefinitely and distract the government from “the real leaders on the ground”.
According to the Sudan’s official news agency (SUNA), President Al-Bashir told the Fur leaders that the government wants to end the conflict in Darfur and establish stability. He also pointed out that any delay in resolving the problem means more injustice for the displaced and war-affected persons.
Last week the Qatari state minister for foreign affairs paid a short visit to Khartoum for talks with president Bashir. Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud arrived days after a request by the rebels to the mediators demanding them to clarify government’s position over the framework agreement signed in February and March 2010.
The rebels accused Ghazi of sabotaging the Doha peace process saying he want to domesticate the conflict and warned this position will lead to more violence in the restive region.
The presidential adviser who took the file from Presidential Assistant Nafi Ali Nafi last year considers that resolving the conflict through the tribal leaders and regional authorities more productive than talks with rebel groups.
Ghazi announced in the past months a plan to realize peace in Darfur based on direct dialogue between the tribal leaders, civil society groups and Darfur states officials. The new strategy is also based on the return of displaced population and recovery and development projects.
The presidential adviser went to Doha several times to ask the mediation to finalize a peace agreement with the rebel Liberation and Equality Movement (LJM) but the talks are deadlocked over the issue of Darfur’s administrative status.
Yesterday, the two rebel groups in Doha, the Justice and Liberation Movement and LJM agreed to coordinate their positions in the talks with the Sudanese government. Khartoum says JEM is not serious to reach a peace agreement, but the group started negotiations on the basis of texts prepared by LJM and the Sudanese government.
(ST)