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Televised Debate over Sudanâs Referendum Set Wednesday

   Peter Clottey 28 December 2010
   Eamon  Omordha,  right,  Deputy  Director of United Nations Integrated
   Referendum  and  Electoral Division, hands over a referendum ballot to
   Justice  Chan  Reec  Madut,  left,  Chairman  of  the  Southern  Sudan
   Referendum Bureau, during a material handover ceremony in

Photo: AP

   Eamon  Omordha,  right,  Deputy  Director of United Nations Integrated
   Referendum  and  Electoral Division, hands over a referendum ballot to
   Justice  Chan  Reec  Madut,  left,  Chairman  of  the  Southern  Sudan
   Referendum  Bureau,  during  a  material  handover  ceremony  in Juba,
   southern Sudan, 23 Dec 2010.

   An official of the Sudanâs referendum commission said his organization
   Wednesday  will  begin  the  first  in  a  series  of  debates between
   high-ranking  representatives  of  the  ruling National Congress Party
   (NCP)  and  the Sudan Peopleâs Liberation Movement (SPLM) ahead of the
   9^th January referendum.

   George  Benjamin,  a  commission  spokesman, told VOA the debates will
   largely focus on the pros and cons of the countryâs unity or secession
   as  southern  Sudanese prepare to vote whether to be part of the north
   or secede and become an independent nation.

   âThe  commission  is  now  organizing  a series of debates between the
   supporters  of  either option of the referendum, which is unity of the
   country  or  separation  of  southern  Sudan.  So, we will begin these
   debates  as from today between two leading members of the SPLM and the
   NCP,â said Benjamin.

   âDr.  Luka  Biong, who is also the minister of council of ministers in
   the  government of national unity in Khartoum, (will debate) Dr. Bakri
   Osman  Saeed,  who  is  a  strategist  and  one  of  the  thinkers and
   intellectuals of the National Congress Party.â

   Critics  have  questioned  the  timing  of  the  debate  after  citing
   instances  where  senior officials of the SPLM said the NCP has failed
   to make unity attractive to southerners.

   But,  Benjamin  said  the  debate will help prospective voters make an
   informed decision.

   âThere  is  nothing  that  we  can  do about this since the commission
   itself  was formed very late and it started its job very late. This is
   an  activity  which  we have planned sometime ago and which we have to
   undertake anyway. So, we donât know how much it can contribute towards
   shaping  the  opinions  of  people.  But,  it  is an activity which is
   worthwhile undertaking and we have to do it,â said Benjamin.

   âThe  mandate  is  that there has to be a campaign for either unity or
   separation.  But,  how  you  do  that  remains  to  be the work of the
   commission  and  the  media  high  committee  that  was  formed by the
   commission, and it thought one of the ways to inform people is to have
   debate among people who support either this or that.â

   Meanwhile, the live debate is expected to be broadcast nationwide.

   The  latest  polls  show  that  a  majority of southerners will choose
   secession over the countryâs unity.

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