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The United Nations Secretary-General’s panel tasked with monitoring the upcoming referenda on self-determination in Sudan arrived this evening in Khartoum to begin its second visit to the country, just days before the vital stage of voter registration is due to begin for the referendum on the status of Southern Sudan.
The three-member Panel is scheduled to travel around the country over the coming days as it visits voter registration sites in both the north and the south and meets with key officials from the Government of the Sudan, the Government of Southern Sudan, the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, the UN, the diplomatic community, observer groups and civil society. The visit will conclude on 22 November.
“Voter registration represents a critical phase in the referenda process, and we will be watching very closely while we are here in Sudan to see how it is carried out,” said Benjamin Mkapa, the chair of the Panel and a former President of Tanzania, after arriving in Khartoum.
“We hope that all Southern Sudanese, wherever they live, will be able to turn out in peace and register for the referendum. We know that organizing voter registration has not been easy, given the country’s size and the scale of the process, but we remain confident that it can be completed successfully.”
Voter registration is scheduled to run from 15 November to 1 December, and will take place at nearly 3,000 sites across the north and south of Sudan, as well as in eight other countries: Australia, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Panel is playing a good offices role on behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to strengthen confidence in the Sudanese-led referenda process, and to encourage the parties and relevant authorities to resolve any significant problems or disputes as they emerge.
Two referenda are slated for 9 January 2011: one in which the people of Southern Sudan will vote for either unity or secession, and another in which the people of the Abyei Area will vote to remain in the north or become part of the south.
Mr. Ban formed the panel after a request from the parties to Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), who sought a UN monitoring body to help enhance the credibility of the referenda and therefore ensure the acceptance of their result by their constituencies and the international community.
Aside from President Mkapa, the Panel’s members are António Monteiro, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, and Bhojraj Pokharel, a former Chairman of the Election Commission of Nepal. Their first visit to Sudan took place last month. For this visit, President Mkapa and Mr. Pokharel arrived in Sudan this evening and Ambassador Monteiro will join them later this week.
