Sudan’s Bashir threatens southern referendum

KHARTOUM, Tuesday

Sudan’s president Omar al Bashir has warned former southern rebels that if they refuse to take part in April’s elections, a southern referendum on secession would not happen, according to comments broadcast on Al Jazeera.

“If the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) refuses to hold elections then we will refuse to hold the referendum,” he said in a campaign speech in Khartoum, Monday.

April’s first multi-party polls in 24 years and the January 2011 southern referendum on independence are key elements of a 2005 peace deal between the SPLM and Bashir’s National Congress Party (NCP).

But the opposition, including SPLM, says the poll cannot be free and fair. Bashir’s warning is a clear message to SPLM to distance itself from the opposition, some of whom have threatened to boycott the April 11 vote.
“We will not accept a delay to the elections not even for one day,” Bashir said. Last week he threatened to expel international observers who asked for any delay to the presidential and legislative polls.

The only international long-term observer mission, the Carter Center, had said a short delay may be necessary because of logistic problems including hundreds of thousands of missing names from the voter list.

The opposition want the polls delayed until November. They cite a continued conflict in Darfur and unresolved complaints of electoral irregularities.

The north-south civil war that began in 1983 claimed some 2 million lives, destabilising much of east Africa. Most analysts believe the south will vote for independence in 2011.

In a further sign of worsening relations between the northern and southern authorities, who formed a coalition government in 2005, a rare meeting of the presidency set for Tuesday in Khartoum was abruptly cancelled.

“There was no agreement on the agenda to be raised to the presidency,” Abdallah Masar, an advisor to Bashir, told Reuters late on Monday. “There are differences over the elections — the NCP says the elections must happen on time,” he added.

When relations between the north-south partners hit a wall, the presidency usually meets and resolves the differences. The decision to cancel the meeting indicates how far apart their positions are less than two weeks ahead of the polls. (Reuters)