From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Fri Oct 16 2009 - 10:05:36 EDT
North, south Sudan break deadlock on referendum - southern VP
Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:40am GMT
* North, south in talks breakthrough, Machar says
* Details said to have been agreed on referendum
By Skye Wheeler
JUBA, Sudan, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Sudan's former civil war foes have reached a
breakthrough in talks over a referendum on southern independence, south
Sudan's vice president said on Friday, a move that could clear a logjam in
their troubled peace process.
North and south Sudan ended a two-decade long war in 2005 with an accord
that promised national elections, set for April 2010, and a ballot on
whether the south should secede in 2011.
Both sides in the oil-producing country have disagreed over arrangements for
both votes and analysts and diplomats have said there is a risk of a return
to conflict if their differences are not settled.
The looming referendum is one of the most divisive issues on Sudan's
political calendar.
Many southerners, embittered by years of bloodshed, are thought to favour
independence. But a vote for secession would mean Khartoum would lose
control of most of the country's proven oil reserves, predominantly found in
the south.
South Sudan's vice president Riek Machar told journalists on Friday northern
and southern officials had overcome key sticking points over a referendum
bill on how the vote will be run.
"We have overcome the differences, the outstanding issues and there is an
agreement," he said in the south's capital Juba.
Machar said they had agreed two thirds of registered southerners would have
to turn out to vote to make the ballot valid. South Sudan's government had
earlier insisted a 50 percent turnout would be enough.
More than 50 percent of the voters would have to choose independence for the
south to secede, he added. According to unconfirmed reports, northern
officials had been pushing for a much higher percentage.
"I would have wished the turnout quorum to be a little bit lower ... because
of the difficulties we have such as security, transport, logistics," Machar
said.
"The turnout quorum that is from registered voters we agreed on two-thirds.
As for the approval quorum it is 50 percent plus one," Machar said.
Machar said the south had also agreed southerners living in north Sudan and
the diaspora would be allowed to vote. The south had earlier insisted
southerners would have to travel to the south to take part.
Two million people were killed and 4 million fled between 1983 and 2005 as
Sudan's north and south battled over differences in ideology, ethnicity and
religion. North Sudan is mostly Muslim while southerners are largely
Christian and followers of traditional beliefs.
A wave of inter-tribal violence across the south in 2009 that has killed
over 1,200 people has worried many that many will not be able to participate
in elections or the referendum because of insecurity.
Both sides remain divided over arrangements for the national elections --
the south has refused to accept the findings of a census that will set
constituencies, and the north/south border still has to be demarcated.
Machar said that the agreement on the referendum bill drawn up in Khartoum
would be presented to the southern government cabinet on Friday. If agreed,
the document will then be sent to a national constitutional review
commission which will present the bill to Sudan's national parliament.
No one was immediately available for comment from north Sudan's dominant
National Congress Party.
(Editing by Andrew Heavens)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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