From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Apr 29 2010 - 14:58:02 EDT
Kiir says Sudan's unity makes it a strong nation, accuses NCP of encouraging
secession
Thursday 29 April 2010
http://www.sudantribune.com/local/cache-vignettes/L337xH230/Kiir-684f4.jpgAp
ril 29, 2010 (CAIRO) - The First Vice President and president of the
Government of South Sudan (GoSS) Salva Kiir criticized the ruling National
Congress Party (NCP) saying its policies had made the choice of independence
more attractive for the people of South Sudan ahead of the 2011 self
determination referenda.
"We are trying to change the administration system, which led to the
outbreak of war during the past period, and live as equal citizens with the
same opportunities, the SPLM is seeking to achieve unity of Sudan on a new
basis, and also try to tell the government in Khartoum, that it should
restructured the governance and offer opportunities to all citizens equally"
Kiir told 'Private Meeting' show aired on Egyptian TV.
Sudan is eight months away from a referendum giving the people of its
largely autonomous south the choice whether to split off as an independent
country, guaranteed under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that
ended two decades of north-south civil war.
It is widely expected that Southerners emerging bitter after two decades of
civil war that claimed 2 million lives mostly through hunger and disease.
One of the major objectionable items to citizens of South Sudan is the
application of Islamic Sharia'a law which they demanded that it be abrogated
if they were to remain united with the North.
But the NCP made it clear that the issue of Sharia'a law is not up for
negotiation. Currently the CPA exempts the South from these set of laws.
"I said before, wherever they unity is found then strength is found and
Sudan could be a strong power if the country remains one country as it is,
but the South is not seeking the partition, but the regime in Khartoum is
the one dividing Sudan," Kiir said.
"If this regime continues, then not only the South will be seeking to
secede, there is war in Darfur and war in the East and [people] must
confront this reality as well as [even] individuals in the far north are not
satisfied with the current situation and therefore this regime is the one
dividing Sudan into small countries and this is the outcome of governance
that prevails in Khartoum" he added.
The GoSS president said that people in the South are blaming the North
because the latter is the one making the decision and formulating policies
leading the people in the South to go to war.
"Who is to blame? The Southerners do not have any authority to blame and
Khartoum is the one to blame" he said before adding that despite a spirit of
unity among the Southerners, it has been frustrated by the "state partners
in the North"
He further pointed out that the SPLM has not felt stability since joining
the government but had to struggle for the implementation of the CPA.
Asked on president Omer Hassan Bashir announcement that he will work for
making unity attractive in the remaining pre-referendum period, Kiir
expressed skepticism that this could be achieved with little time left.
"This requires a miracle because there is only two or three months left in
order to make the south a ground similar to heaven, but he [Bashir]
announced that he would put the unity of Sudan on his priorities and I think
that after the success the elections, he will face difficulty in doing this
because it is not about words, but needs into practical action" Kiir said.
He revealed that he suggested to Bashir that an office is established in
Juba allowing him to tour the South and see what the people need in terms of
development project to make unity attractive but said that his proposal has
not seen the light.
Kiir stressed he would give the people of the South the freedom to pick
unity or independence and will support any decision they make.
On the recent polls that saw him and Bashir reelected, Kiir said that the
SPLM lost a number of parliamentary seats in the South which he said
indicated that elections "were fair to a great extent".
Today, nine south Sudanese opposition parties said they would challenge the
election of the region's president and state governors in court, adding they
had documented evidence of fraud.
Kiir, won the presidential race in the south with 93% of the vote against 7%
for his lone challenger Lam Akol.
"The elections have been rigged," said Akol at the press conference. "We
have documented evidence of the (army) taking over polling stations and
arresting party agents."
International observers have said the elections across the country did not
meet international standards but emphasized there had been intimidation by
security forces in the south.
Kiir said that those candidates who split from the SPLM to run as
independents could return to the movement if they submit a formal request to
the political bureau to be taken back in.
Many aspirants from the southern Sudan ruling party decided to break away
from the SPLM and to pose their candidacies as independents refusing the
selection made by party's political bureau. All of them contested the
party's decision and asserted that they are popular among their supporters.
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