Sudan Vision Daily News Paper Official Website - Nafie: We Seek To Prepare Climate for Referendum in the South

Khartoum, Al Sammani Awadallah
The ruling National Congress and the Alliance of Southern Sudan Political Parties have bridged their views on the forthcoming referendum on south Sudan self-determination so that it represents the genuine expression about the desire of the sons of southern Sudan with regard to whether to opt for unity or separation.

The two sides, according to statements by Dr. Nafie Ali Nafie, presidential assistant, deputy chairman of National Congress Party, and Dr. Lam Akol, chairman of Sudan People's Liberation Movement for Democratic Change, SPLM-DC following their meeting the NCP's General Centre, affirmed the legitimate right to the referendum, but said that the atmosphere in southern Sudan does not allow for free political exercise.

Dr. Nafie said brutal harassment and curbing is currently being exercised against political activities in the south, but despite all that efforts should be concerted. "We have discussed this with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the United Nations," Nafie said.

"We will continue what we agreed upon in our in-depth dialogue with all political forces to ensure free referendum in the south provided that all forces should accept the results of the referendum."

Nafie said the meeting with southern parties alliance came within the framework of the dialogue the NCP is conducting with SPLM-DC, Umma Party, the Democratic Unionist and Communist parties on the forthcoming referendum in order to make concerted efforts to ensure the referendum be satisfactory in terms of procedures and results.

Dr. Lam Akol said the southern parties alliance aims to achieve agreement and the reason why they got engaged upon dialogue with all political parties, especially National Congress and Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) because the two are responsible for the implementation of the remaining items of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPA. He indicated that the meeting with NCP focused on the referendum and the need to provide appropriate climate for holding it.

"The referendum was a historic decision and decisive for Sudan which necessitates good preparations to allow people freely and fairly express their opinion on unity or separation,'' Akol said.
He added that self-determination is an acquired right for all southerners, and all political parties demonstrated preparedness to accept whatever results – unity or separation- that will come out of the referendum because the main objective of CPA is to achieve security and stability. Akol said that southern people are afraid of the referendum because they went through difficult experience during the recent general elections. "We have to convince them that circumstance will be difficult this time so that they may turn up for registration and voting when the time comes."

Regarding preparing climate conducive to free and fair referendum, Nafie said the matter was discussed with SPLM-DC, UN, AU and some of the countries supporting CPA. He added that there were practical proposals with regard to providing appropriate atmosphere for holding the referendum, hoping that the practical proposals would materialize because the whole affairs is based on the Peace Agreement signed by the two parties to be implemented by the commission and the state. ''We hope there will be practical procedures to create such atmosphere,'' he concluded.