International Observers arrive in Western Equatoria

By Richard Ruati

November 12, 2009 (YAMBIO) — International Observers to the April 2010 Sudanese General Elections started arriving in the State this week amid concerns by stakeholders that the Registration process is very poor.
The elections are Sudan’s first since political violence and civil war that swept through the country since the 1980s.

About 400 observers from International Community will be dispatched to various parts of the country to monitor the electoral environment as well as conduct come April 2010.

Apart from the International Committee team of observers, the Western Equatoria witnessed a team from the Jimmy Carter observer mission doing the rounds in some parts of Western Equatoria State while other organizations like Sudanese Network Democratic Elections (SuNDE) are expected to take lead in the monitoring process.

Election observers expressed concern on earlier this month over the harassment of political parties and funding delays as voters began to register for Sudan’s first multi-party elections in 24 years.

Since the Registration exercise started, The Carter Center is the only international observer mission on the ground. In a recent press statement, the US based organization, has said its monitors had faced restrictions and many had not been given accreditation to start their work. However a source from the Carter Centre has confirmed that, the organization has obtained the accreditation.

“Sudan’s National Election Commission (NEC) must act immediately to accredit national and international observers as well as political party agents, and lift restrictions on observers’ freedom of movement,” the center, founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, said in a statement.

Sudanese media houses have commented on the low turn-out since registration began on 1st of November, saying many people did not know that the process had started or where to go to register.

The former southern rebel Sudan’s People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) said it was concerned there was confusion in registering in the south, and that some centers were not open yet.

“If things go like the way they are going now, I believe less than 10 percent of the total (southern) population will be registered,” reiterated senior SPLM official Anne Itto during a recent visit to Western Equatoria State.

In Western Equatoria until in the second week of the delayed registration party agents are yet to be allowed in, as the ID cards are still being processed from Khartoum, however the State’s NEC High Committee is doing its best to issue provisional ID cards to bring an end to such rifts.

The biggest concern now in WES is whether the Registration officers will reach all the villages, given the bad road conditions in the region. There are also growing anxieties among the registration officers, given the fact that barely for 12 days in the field the registration officers have not got their dues, this is serving as an obstacle for commitment and willingness to register the potential voters.

Disagreements over final figures of the recent census in Sudan are likely to disrupt the Country’s first Democratic polls in more than 20 years and risk a return to war, a top minister said of recent. The rejection of Census results and Constituencies demarcation has been adopted by the WES Council of Ministers.

The north and south fought a two-decade civil war that ended with a 2005 peace deal. But relations remain tense and the agreement faces important tests soon – national elections next year and then a referendum on southern independence in 2011.

(ST)