SUDAN / REFERENDUM (03:05)

4 November 2009

SUDAN / REFERENDUM (03:05)

With just about 14 months to go before Sudan's referendum on unity or secession for the south, there is a general feeling that the parties to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a two-decade war are not doing enough to make unity attractive. UNMIS

Broadcast Quality Downloads

Broadcast-quality video for UNifeed stories is available online for two weeks. Should you wish to request older material, please contact the agency source of the material. For UNTV or peacekeeping stories, please contact the UN Video Library.

Full Script

STORY: SUDAN / REFERENDUM
TRT: 03:05
SOURCE: UNMIS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

3 NOVEMBER 2009, KHARTOUM, SUDAN

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, people walking into a conference hall
2. Med shot, participants chatting
3. Med shot, delegate seated
4. Close up, female delegate listening
5. Wide shot, people listening
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Deng Alor, Foreign Minister, Sudan: 
“No single project has been implemented in the south and the people of the south are watching this, they already know that they are separate because there is no real link between them and the government of national unity.”
7. Med shot, ambassadors listening
8. Close up, participant paying attention
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ghazi Salaheddin, NCP Presidential Advisor, Sudan:  
“We must have elections before referendum; mark my words that is how it is mentioned in the CPA elections before referendum, because the government that’s to carry out the referendum, to conduct the referendum should have popular legitimacy. We don’t have to have an appointed government and an appointed parliament to preside over the conduct of referendum”. 
10. Med shot, more dignitaries
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sir Derek Plumply, Chairman of the Assessment and Evaluation Commission, Sudan:
“The aspiration we have is to make unit attractive, history suggests that the alternative approaching of seeking to make separation painful will only heighten the sentiment it is designed to check. Sudan is entering a period of change and uncertainty inevitable with elections ahead, popular consultation to referendum, but it is also one of immense opportunity. The self determination referendum in particular should lay to rest one way or another, once and for all a conflict which has caused immense suffering for more that half a century”. 
12. Wide shot, conference hall
13. Wide shot, delegates listening to speaker
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Ashraf Qazi, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, UNMIS:
“The hour is late but the time for hope is now, we are at the eleventh hour and very often things begin to happen at the eleventh hour, you get what you want if the political will is there, if the commitment to see Sudan united, then you will get a Sudan that is united and is approved by the people of Sudan and especially in accordance with the CPA, the people of south Sudan”. 
15. Med shot, participants shaking hand with the speakers
16. Med shot, dignitaries chatting
17. Wide shot, participants leaving

STORYLINE:

With just about 14 months to go before Sudan’s referendum on unity or secession for the south, there is a general feeling that the parties to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a two-decade war are not doing enough to make unity attractive.

At the closing session of a two-day symposium held in Khartoum on Unity and Self – determination, organized by the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and the Future Trends Foundation, leading figures from the National Congress Party and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement traded accusations on who is to blame for not making unity attractive.

Deng Alor, Sudan’s foreign minister and an SPLM member said that southerners can only vote for unity if there is a real departure from the “old Sudan” ideology, which favors Khartoum.

“No single project has been implemented in the south and the people of the south are watching this, they already know that they are separate because there is no real link between them and the government of national unity.”

His statement came just days after Salva Kiir, the First Vice President and President of the semi – autonomous south was quoted by media in the south that voting for unity under the current conditions would be like voting to become “second class” citizen.

Speaking on behalf of the National Congress Party, the Presidential Advisor Ghazi Salaheddin refuted the statements saying that the south had suffered from a lack of good governance and accountability on the part of their government. He further underlined the importance of the implementation of other parts of the peace agreement, such as the forthcoming elections. 
 
“We must have elections before referendum, mark my words that is how it is mentioned in the CPA elections before referendum, because the government that’s to carry out the referendum, to conduct the referendum should have popular legitimacy. We don’t have to have an appointed government and an appointed parliament to preside over the conduct of referendum”.

He called on his southern counterpart to espouse unity and added that if mistakes have been committed in the CPA implementations, they can be corrected.

Speaking at the event, Sir Derek Plumbly, Chairman of an international commission mandated to monitor the peace agreement highlighted the need for more work to be done to ensure that the referendum is freely and fairly exercised. 
 
“The aspiration we have is to make unit attractive, history suggests that the alternative approaching of seeking to make separation painful will only heighten the sentiment it is designed to check. Sudan is entering a period of change and uncertainty inevitable with elections ahead, popular consultation to referendum, but it is also one of immense opportunity. The self determination referendum in particular should lay to rest one way or another, once and for all a conflict which has caused immense suffering for more that half a century”.

Representing UNMIS, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ashraf Qazi noted that despite the heated discussions and the delays in implementing the peace agreement, there is still room for unity.

“The hour is late but the time for hope is now, we are at the eleventh hour and very often things begin to happen at the eleventh hour, you get what you want if the political will is there, if the commitment to see Sudan united, then you will get a Sudan that is united and is approved by the people of Sudan and especially in accordance with the CPA, the people of south Sudan”.

The symposium brought together leading scholars on Sudan, opinion makers, academics and representative from the two parties to the CPA.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30

Breadcrumb Trail

Television

Services