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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Nov 10 2010 - 06:31:56 EST
<http://allafrica.com/sudan/> Sudan: NCP Says SPLM Has Three Options to
Resolve Impasse Over Abyei
10 November 2010
_____
Khartoum - The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Sudan has laid out
three options before the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) to break
the deadlock on the oil-rich region of Abyei that lies on the North-South
borders.
The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the NCP and SPLM
stipulates that two simultaneous self-determination referendums should be
held in South Sudan and Abyei so that its residents can decide their fate.
While Southern Sudan will have the option to establish their own state, the
people of Abyei are to vote on whether they want to stay with the North or
join an independent South.
Both votes are to be held on January 9, 2011 per the CPA but preparations
for them have proceeded haltingly amid political and logistical obstacles
and the southerners have accused the northerners of stalling, warning of
violence if the referendum is delayed.
Sudanese officials have already announced publicly that the Abyei referendum
cannot be held as scheduled because of disagreements over who is eligible to
vote. U.S. brokered talks in Ethiopia on the issue have failed to bridge
differences over the composition of Abyei's electoral commission and the
demarcation of the region's borders has yet to start.
The borders of Abyei were redrawn by the Permanent Court of Arbitration
(PCA) after the NCP & SPLM agreed to refer the matter to it last year.
However, the technical commission mandated with demarcating the borders on
the ground have yet to start the process because of threats leveled by the
Arab Misseriya tribe who objected to the PCA ruling.
The SPLM in control of the South has interpreted the ruling as meaning that
the cattle-herding Misseriya tribe have no right to vote in areas assigned
by the PCA to the Dinka Ngok. However, the Misseriya vowed not to allow the
vote to take place even if they have to resort to force unless they are
allowed to participate.
The Abyei referendum commission, which has yet to be formed, will have the
final word on who is eligible to vote.
The NCP deputy chairman Nafie Ali Nafie said today at a rally for unity in
Khartoum that the SPLM choices on the issue include accepting a delay to the
Abyei referendum, finding a solution prior to the vote or conceding the
whole region to the North.
Nafie accused the SPLM of seeking to suppress the rights of the Misseriya
while focusing on the Dinka Ngok and stressed that they will not compromise
on the rights of the Arab tribe.
He also ruled out granting dual citizenship to Southerners should the South
vote to secede in the referendum saying it is an "illegal" course of action
as there would be two sovereign states after the split.
It is widely expected that the Southerners will choose to secede driven by
bitterness and mistrust of the Arab-Muslim dominated North.
The NCP official also described those who support separation as "traitors"
who are executing the plans of colonialist powers. He also claimed that the
SPLM is intimidating prospective voters residing in the North to return
South and cast their votes.
"The strange thing that they [SPLM] tells them [Southerners in North] to go
vote and return [North afterwards]," Nafie said.
In Washington, the U.S. administration today suggested for the first time
that it might not be possible to organize the Abyei referendum as scheduled
and suggested north and south weigh an "alternative".
"While it is theoretically possible that the referendum could still go on
schedule regarding Abyei, we recognize that that is increasingly
problematic. We are not relieving the parties of their obligation. Today,
they're obliged to cooperate and schedule a referendum on Abyei on January
9," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.
"Discussions continue on Abyei, and we will continue to hold the parties to
their obligation to a referendum on Abyei... unless they arrive at an
alternative that is mutually agreeable to both sides," Crowley added.
Yet "we recognize that given that there is not agreement between north and
south on the details of that referendum, if they, you know, are able to
arrive at a different course of action, that is up to them, but it has to be
a mutually agreeable alternative," the U.S. official said.
"It is up to the parties to decide, you know, you know, to arrive at a
mutually agreeable solution to Abyei. And it's their responsibility, first
and foremost," he stressed.
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