South Sudan decision day

January 8, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Southern Sudanese have flocked to the polling stations across the country to cast their votes in an emotional exercise on the future of the semi-autonomous region that is widely expected to lead to the creation of the world’s newest state.

The U.S. brokered Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed six years ago gave Southerners the right of self-determination but with the hope that in the interim both the National Congress Party (NCP) and Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) could work to make the country intact.

But the death of SPLM’s chairman and founder John Garang in a helicopter crash was considered by many a major setback to unity efforts. He has been a proponent of ‘New Sudan’ which calls for a united country that recognizes citizenship as a basis of rights rather than religion or ethnicity.

His successors Salva Kiir has appeared less than enthusiastic about embracing this vision and has spent of his time in the South rather in Khartoum where he holds the position of the country’s First Vice president.

The SPLM has been accusing the NCP of dominating the decision making process despite the power sharing formula of the CPA. Both parties were constantly wrangling over issues ranging from oil revenue to referendum.

Observers say that this has accelerated the walk towards separation as Southerners have grown more skeptical and mistrustful of the North.

The Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir met with former U.S. president Jimmy Carter on Saturday and was quoted as saying that he hopes that the vote will express the will of the people in a “fair and true manner”.

Carter on his end said that Bashir promised him to respect the referendum outcome and that he was looking forward to working with Southern leaders to overcome any obstacles that might come up.

The NCP’s deputy chairman in Khartoum said that they will accept the results if the vote is “transparent and free” adding that while they will be sad if the South secedes but that “it is not all evil” and that North and South could both benefit of peace is sustained.

HEAVY TURNOUT FOR VOTING

Thousands of excited Southerners were seen at voting stations standing in line with many saying that they are willing to wait as long as it takes to cast their votes.

Many of them have been stationed there since the night before wanting to be among the first to vote.

South Sudan leader Kiir, who casted his vote this morning at Garang’s mausoleum, described this day as a “historic moment”.

The U.S. special envoy Scott Gration and Senator John Kerry as well as Hollywood star George Clooney watched Kiir cast the ballot.

“I would like to call on all south Sudanese people to be patient in case anyone does not have time to cast his or her vote today,” Kiir said.

The referendum will be valid only if more than 60% of registered voters show up and a 50%+1 will make either choices of unity or secession the official result.

The chairman of the South Sudan referendum commission (SSRC) Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil said in a press conference that results will be announced in early February.

He said that 3,930,916 Southerners have registered for voting today and that 3,000 stations were erected in Sudan and around the world with 9,000 polling staff.

Khalil noted that only 64 challenges to voter registration were made which according to him confirms that the process went smoothly despite the challenges and delays relating to enactment of the referendum law and establishment of the SSRC.

OBAMA PROMISES INCENTIVES FOR SUDAN

Today U.S President Barack Obama has once again promised Sudan a removal from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism as well as lifting of US economic sanctions if it ensured a peaceful conduct of south Sudan referendum and respected its outcome.

In an op-ed published on Sunday by the New York Times, Obama dangled both the carrot and the stick for Sudan, saying that success in the referendum will reflect positively on US-Sudan and warned at the same time that failure to do so will result in consequences.

“Today, I am repeating my offer to Sudan’s leaders — if you fulfill your obligations and choose peace, there is a path to normal relations with the United States, including the lifting of economic sanctions and beginning the process, in accordance with United States law, of removing Sudan from the list of states that sponsor terrorism,” he wrote.

“In contrast, those who flout their international obligations will face more pressure and isolation,” he added.

Obama said that the fact that the referendum appears to be happening on time is a coronation of commitments by Sudan leaders as well as US diplomatic efforts exerted during the high-level meeting on Sudan held in September on the margins of the US General Assembly.

He further urged all sides to refrain from actions aimed at influencing the vote as well as inflammatory remarks and attempts to intimidate voters.

“As the ballots are counted, all sides must resist prejudging the outcome. For the results to be credible, the commission that is overseeing the referendum must be free from pressure and interference. In the days ahead, leaders from north and south will need to work together to prevent violence and ensure that isolated incidents do not spiral into wider instability,” Obama commentary reads.

“As the referendum proceeds, voters must be allowed access to polling stations; they must be able to cast their ballots free from intimidation and coercion. All sides should refrain from inflammatory rhetoric or provocative actions that could raise tensions or prevent voters from expressing their will”

Obama declared that the United States will support efforts to ensure that if south chose to secede that the two states will be successful and coexist. He also said that US is ready to be a partner in helping south Sudan rebuilds itself.

“If the south chooses independence, the international community, including the United States, will have an interest in ensuring that the two nations that emerge succeed as stable and economically viable neighbors, because their fortunes are linked. Southern Sudan, in particular, will need partners in the long-term task of fulfilling the political and economic aspirations of its people.”

(ST)