The
preparations for the Jan. 9 vote have proceeded haltingly amid political and logistic
obstacles and the southerners have accused the northerners of stalling, warning
of violence if the vote is delayed.
A
condition of the peace agreement that ended the two decade long civil war, the
vote is open to all southerners whether they live in the north or the south,
but determining who is eligible to vote has also been a source of tension.
A
contested 2008 population census indicates there are some half a million
southerners in the north. But southerners accuse the north of inflating the numbers
with their own supporters.
The
northern government has also laid down a new series of conditions for the
referendum, including completely demarcating the long borders and the
redeployment of southern forces, further provoking the south's ire.
The
logistics of organizing the vote across the massive underdeveloped south also
poses great challenges.
Voter
lists were supposed to have already been finalized by this time according to
the 2005 peace agreement. At least two million people died during the war,
which left the vast oil-rich south devastated and underdeveloped.
Commission
Chairman Mohammed Khalil said the registration process is set to start around
mid-November, leaving the commission just six weeks to register voters and
finalize the lists.
Khalil
said his commission has only now begun recruiting the more than 10,000
referendum workers needed to man the 3,600 polling centers.
Khalil
said that 2,000 of the polling centers will be in the south and 1,600 in the
north and abroad.
The
commission's budget is still not finalized and only a few international
observers are in place for the referendum.
A U.N.
Security Council delegation is set to visit Sudan this week where they are
expected to review preparations for the referendum.
The
border region of Abyei — where much of Sudan's oil is located — will be holding
a similar vote the same day to choose whether the region will be part of the
north or a possible new country in the south.
The
composition of the supervising commission and questions over who is eligible to
vote were to be discussed in an internationally sponsored meeting starting
Sunday in Ethiopia. US special envoy for Sudan, Scott Gration, was set to
attend.
