Sudan’s SPLM to launch Khartoum electoral campaign next month

May 23, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — Yasser Arman, Deputy Secretary-General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement announced the launch next month of the SPLM campaign in the capital for the general elections.

Arman, who was speaking during the celebration of the SPLM 26th anniversary in Soba, near Khartoum, told the gathering that James Wani, a deputy chairman of the party and speaker of the Southern Sudan parliament, would head the political initiative.

He further warned against a scheme to liquidate the SPLM, saying preparations are going on for a scenario similar to what had been done to the Umma Party. Arman was alluding to rumors about possible dissidence with the SPLM and the formation of a new party by a breakaway faction from the party.

Nonetheless, the SPLM leading official disclosed that the party would launch a large-scale campaign to register its membership in Khartoum state.

Arman further opposed using results of the contested fifth national census to define the constituencies, instead calling to delimit it based on the figures of the electoral registries.

He added they are sure that the SPLM would sweep Khartoum’s elections at all the levels, adding that the National Congress Party (NCP) should drop the state from its electoral expectations.

The SPLM accused the NCP of manipulating the figures of the census and under-counting the number of southerners in Khartoum. The number of southerners in north Sudan is at 520,000 people according to the census results, of which 350,000 are in Khartoum.

(ST)