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Sudan Opposition Party Denies Derailing Referendum

   Peter Clottey 28 October 2010
   If  the January referendum does take place, it will have little impact
   on the conflict in Darfur, in western Sudan, which has been in a lull.

   If  the January referendum does take place, it will have little impact
   on the conflict in Darfur, in western Sudan, which has been in a lull.

   A  prominent member of Sudanâs opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP)
   has  denied  accusations  that  supporters  of  the  party  within the
   President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir led-unity government want to undermine
   the 9^th January referendum.

   General  Mohammed  Khalifa,  PCPâs  Secretary for Security and Defense
   said  his  party  is âstronglyâ opposed to external forces, who in his
   words  want  to  divide  Sudan  mainly to gain access or âto lootâ the
   countryâs rich natural resources including oil.

   âWe  want  the  referendum  to  be free and fair and not influenced by
   insiders or outsiders. We want really the southerners to choose freely
   without  any (influence so) we will respect the results. But, if it is
   not  free  and  fair  that  means  if  it  is  interfered  with by the
   government  of  the  south  or  by  the  government of the north or by
   outsiders, I think it will not be free and fair.â

   General  Khalifa  added that any interference will not reflect what he
   described  as  the  âreal  hopes  and real wishes of the people of the
   south.â

   Hassan  Al-Turabi, leader of Sudanâs opposition Popular Congress Party
   (PCP)

   Local  media  quoted  Andrew  Natsios,  a  former U.S special envoy to
   Sudan, as saying partisans loyal to opposition leader Hassan Al-Turabi
   are  seeking  to derail the upcoming referendum in order to avert what
   appears to be a possible secession of the semi-autonomous south Sudan.

   âIf the Sudanese government stops stonewalling .... They (ruling party
   officials)  are  trying  to  use the referendum as a weapon. The north
   wants  to  get a higher use of oil, they want a deal on Nile River and
   debt level.â

   General Khalifa said there are indications President Bashirâs National
   Congress  Party  seems  not  to  be  interested  in  a  possible south
   secession.

   âThey  donât  want  that  to  happen  because they think if there is a
   referendum  the  south will secede. They (southerners) will like to be
   independent,  and they donât want that to happen at all. Because if it
   happens,  the  majority of the (people in the) north will be angry and
   they (NCP) will lose the power. For that reason, they donât want it to
   happen.â

   He  also  said  his party supports a referendum that is conducted in a
   free  and  fair  environment  without what he described as internal or
   external interference.

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