UN and Carter center say South Sudan registration process was credible

December 16, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — A UN panel and Carter Center delivered Thursday a certificate of good standing to the registration process of Southern Sudanese for the self-determination referendum which ended on 8 December after two weeks.

According to the Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau (SSRB) officials some 3,275,577 people, representing 96% of eligible voters have registered in Southern Sudan in order to take part in the historical vote on the independence of the semi-autonomous region next January.

Northern Sudan National Congress Party and the South’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement traded accusations over intimidations, violence and irregularities, in the two parties of the country, drawing a gloomy picture about the process in northern and southern Sudan.

“The registration process was conducted in a peaceful and orderly manner, despite time constraints and limitations in communications infrastructure and financial resources,” said Benjamin Mkap, chairperson of UN Secretary-General’s Panel on the Referenda.

The former Tanzanian president who was briefing a follow-up meeting on Sudan at the United Nations Security Council further stressed that “the process (is) generally transparent, with very few cases of rejections reported. No discernable pattern of irregularities were reported either.”

“This should help prepare the ground for a credible referendum on 9 January 2011,” he pointed out.

The briefing coincided with the release of a 21-page report by Carter Center on the registration process in the country particularly in Southern Sudan.

The independent group went directly to say that the process was “credible and represents a strong step toward the successful conduct of the referendum”.

The Center pinpointed the massive participation of southerners in the process saying “the vast majority of Southern Sudanese were able to participate in the registration process”.

This large participation in South Sudan contrasts with the weak turnout of Southerners in Northern Sudan. Only 116,890 Southern Sudanese have registered for the vote in the north. Reports from the region say the latter continue moving from the North to the South even after the end of registration period fearing violence after the independence vote.

Carter center highlighted the crucial need to prepare Sudanese from both sides for the outcome of this vote on secession saying the entire Sudanese are concerned by the future of the country and they “should become actively engaged in the process”.

A Western observer noticed recently that Northerners are not prepared for the secession as they were excluded from the process and no public debate or discussion held on the referendum despite its critical significance.

The Center also said the media “should act with sensitivity and responsibility when reporting on the referendum process”.

(ST)