NCP vows to split South Kordofan

April 16, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – North Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has pledged to bifurcate South Kordofan State by reinstating the state of West Kordofan should the party wins the state’s gubernatorial elections set to take place in less than three weeks.

The state of West kordofan was abolished and merged into South Kordofan State in 2005 as per the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended decades of north-south war and accorded Abyei area a special administrative status.

Addressing a press conference in South Kordofan’s Kadugli town on Saturday, the NCP’s senior member Haj Magid Siwar said his party had no objection to re-establish West Kordofan State if its people wanted to.

Siwar further expressed confidence that the party’s candidate in South Korodfan’s long-delayed elections, Ahmad Harun, a man wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Darfur, would achieve a landslide victory.

Gubernatorial and legislative elections in the oil-producing state of South Kordofan were delayed as the country held nationwide elections in 2010 due to disagreements over a census. The vote is now scheduled to take place on May 5.

Tension flared up this week as Abdul Aziz Adam al-Hilu, the frontrunner candidate of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the state’s deputy governor, accused militias loyal to Harun of being behind an attack that killed at least 17 people in El-feid village.

But the NCP’s official Siwar accused the SPLM of instigating the violence in El-Feid, saying that his party had “intelligence” indicating that the force that primarily ignited the clashes was based at Al-Hilu’s house in the village.

According to Siwar, the SPLM was keen to spark the violence with the intent of influencing the outcome of the elections.

Under the CPA, South Kordofan State is due to hold a so-called “popular consultation” after the elections in order to determine whether the agreement has met the aspiration of the state’s people and resolve any pending issues related to its implementation.

(ST)