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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Aug 11 2010 - 17:30:25 EDT
South Sudan Official Warns People Not Ready For January Vote
Peter Clottey 11 August 2010
The chief coordinator for the International Campaign Countdown to South
Sudan's referendum has expressed concerns about what he described as the
referendum commission's ill-preparedness to organize the scheduled January 9
vote.
Ambassador John Andruga Duku, south Sudan's former envoy, says there are
reasons to believe that Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) is
undermining the referendum commission's effort to organize next year's
referendum.
"We need a robust civic education to prepare the population to understand
what they needed to do in this referendum. Because the referendum in south
Sudan is a matter of life and death for the people of south Sudan, there is
no second chance," he said.
Analysts say the referendum commission seems to be running out of time to
carry out civic educational campaigns ahead of the referendum.
Officials of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) have accused the
NCP of a calculated ploy to undermine the upcoming referendum - a charge the
ruling party denies.
An official of the referendum commission recently called for a possible
postponement of the January vote saying there wasn't enough time to organize
the referendum.
But, Ambassador Duku called on the international community to put more
pressure on President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his ruling NCP to guarantee
the referendum is not derailed.
"We also appeal to the international community to release the necessary
resources required. We are very grateful to the United States of America for
pledging $60 million for this process. But, this money remains just a
figure. It is not filtering down to the people on the ground to do the
actual work," Ambassador Duku said.
As part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed between President
Bashir's government and the SPLM, the NCP will appoint the chairman of the
referendum commission leaving the SPLM to appoint the general secretary.
But, Ambassador Duku said the NCP reneged on the agreement after appointing
both the chairman, as well as the general secretary of the commission to the
chagrin of the SPLM.
Senior officials of the NCP have insisted that the ruling party is committed
to the full implementation of the rest of the provisions of the CPA.
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