South Sudanese in the North to vote in the referendum– Machar
By James Gatdet Dak
September 20, 2009 (JUBA) — The Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and Deputy Chairperson of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), Riek Machar, said that the people of Southern Sudan residing in the North will be allowed to vote in the 2011 referendum.
There were earlier contradictory statements from SPLM officials over whether or not Southern Sudanese eligible voters in the North would be confined to the national capital, Khartoum, or expand to all the northern states.
The minister for Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development in the South, Michael Makuei Lueth, who is also the legal advisor to the SPLM Executive Political Committee, on Thursday, said only residents of Khartoum would be allowed to vote.
However, the SPLM Deputy Secretary General for Northern Sector was reported to have stated that all Southern Sudanese in all the northern Sudan states would be allowed to vote without any exception.
Machar said the two parties are still deadlocked over the definition of who is a Southerner in the North.
The parties earlier agreed on the broader definition of the “people of Southern Sudan” and not “citizens of Southern Sudan” to differentiate between the indigenous Southern Sudanese communities that should participate in the voting and non-indigenous who have acquired citizenship by law after 1956 and should not vote.
The complication lies in the definition of a Southerner and eligible voters in the North, Machar said, adding that the parties are yet to agree on criteria.
There are Northerners who have at least one biological parent from the indigenous communities in the South.
Machar however explained that there are too many people that would claim ancestry in the South.
“Nearly every one in the North has ancestry in the South,” he said, adding that their next meeting will try to resolve on eligibility criteria.
The SPLM has also proposed that the referendum should be monitored by joint observers from international, national and indigenous Southern Sudanese associations if Southerners in the North are to vote.
According to the 5th Population Census of 2008, Southerners residing in the North were counted to be only 500,000; an estimated quarter of whom may be eligible to vote in the referendum.
The two parties are yet to agree on the percentage required to favor secession among other contentious issues. NCP proposes 75% of the votes cast to favor secession while the SPLM proposes a simple majority of 51%.
The people of Southern Sudan are scheduled to vote in referendum in 2011 in accordance with the 2005’s peace deal to either choose to confirm the current unity of the Sudan or create an independent country in the South.
(ST)