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Preliminary Results Show that Southern Sudan Voted to Secede
January 31, 2011
By: Chinyelu Odunze | Printer Friendly

According to AFP, provisional results show that South Sudan won the secession vote by a landslide. 

The Voice of America reports that according to the commission’s deputy chairman, Chan Reec Madut, voters living in Southern Sudan were nearly unanimous in their desire for independence.  "Those who voted for separation in Southern Sudan were 3,697,467.  And the percentage is 99.57 percent," said Madut.

State and county referendum officials report that 2,224,857 votes for independence have already been returned, which exceeds the simple majority of 1.89 million votes needed on the 96-percent turnout of the 3,932,588 registered voters.

Provisional results show that three southern Sudanese states and the region's capital city have voted for independence by a landslide.  In Lakes state, which served as rebel headquarters during a devastating 1983-2005 civil war with the north, 298,216 of 300,444 votes cast were for independence, more than 99.9 percent.  On the other hand, just 227 opted to remain united with the north -- less than a tenth of one percent -- with the balance made up by blank or invalid ballots.  Further, in Central Equatoria, which includes the regional capital Juba and is the south's second most populous state, 449,321, or 98.2 percent, of 457,452 votes were for secession.  While just 4,985, or barely one percent, voted for unity.

Millions of southern Sudanese participated in the vote that took place from January 9-15 in Northern and Southern Sudan, and eight other countries where many southerners who fled the civil war live.  The referendum was the centerpiece of a 2005 peace deal known as the CPA that ended decades of civil war between the mostly Muslim and Arab north and the mostly Christian and animist south.

In the Voice of America, Madut said, "the entire CPA is meaningless without the right of self-determination.”

International poll observers have described the referendum as transparent, free and fair.

According to Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton, “the completion of a peaceful, orderly Southern Sudan referendum marks a significant achievement for the Sudanese people and a historic step toward full implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).”  It is also an opportunity to forge a durable peace between the North and the South, and to build positive relationships with the international community.

Final results are expected on February 14, though they may be available sooner if there are no legal objections. Then southerners will look to northern President Omar Al Bashir to recognize the results. The African Union announced earlier in the week that they will be the first to recognize Africa’s newest state.  The south’s official Independence Day is scheduled for July 9, 2011. 

While the vote for secession was practically unanimous in the south and amongst the southern Diaspora abroad, in the north, only 57 percent of voters chose separation.  Much remains unclear about their future once the south officially separates in July.  Their citizenship status has not been decided.  President Bashir has said that there will be a much stricter version of sharia law in the north once the south departs. 
 
However, according to Referendum Commission Chairman Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil the north and the south will remain closely linked after secession because of geographic and historic bonds. "These indissoluble bonds will not dissipate, will not disappear," he told the Voice of America. 

The north and the south have to resolve issues regarding border demarcation, oil-wealth sharing, debt obligations and the future of the border region Abyei.  After official results are announced, leaders in the south will meet to start writing a constitution and decide many of the remaining issues, including the name of an independent Southern Sudan and the dates of its first elections.

Sources:
AFP - South Sudan votes to secede: preliminary results

BBC News Africa - Southern Sudan: UN Security Council praises referendum

U.S. Department of State - Successful Completion of Polling in the Southern Sudan Referendum

Voice of America - Landslide Swells for Southern Sudan Independence

Voice of America - Results: South Sudan Overwhelmingly Chooses to Secede