Source: The GoSS Mission Correspondent in Khartoum

 Friday 20th November 2009: The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement has warned that if the National Assembly passes the disputed draft bill for the 2011 self-determination referendum for Southern Sudan without its approval, that law will not be valid for conducting the referendum in Southern Sudan. 

Addressing journalists during a press conference in Khartoum on Thursday, evening, the Official Spokesperson of the SPLM Parliamentary Caucus in the National Legislatures, Hon. Amar Amun Daldum said though, the National Congress Party (NCP) accepted the proposed draft referendum bill presented by the SPLM; on the contrary the NCP interrupted the process by counteracting the referendum law with the law for popular consultation for Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States.

 “The point of disagreement up to now is on the number of voters for those who will be eligible to vote during the referendum. The NCP insists that at least the number of registered voters to qualify for the referendum should be “67 %”, but we in the SPLM refused this condition. For us the turnout for referendum should be “50+1 %”.

 SPLM’s reaction rolled up after the Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Tahir stated that he would pass the referendum law and the national security act after Muslims’ feast of the sacrifice or Eid Al-Hada Al-Mubarak, which is due on Friday 27th November 2009.

 “These laws will not be applicable (valid) in Southern Sudan. If the referendum law for self-determination for Southern is passed before we overcome the points of contention and without the agreement of the SPLM, it will not be accepted for conducting the 2011 self-determination referendum in Southern Sudan, it will be considered a fictitious or a bogus law. Also the law for popular consultation, we will not accept it”, Amun stated.

 Regarding the national security act, Hon. Amun said the two legal committees formed by the NCP and the SPLM, agreed on a draft bill and the two parties sealed their signatures on all pages of the proposed draft bill in order to avoid counterfeiting the bill, only that the SPLM was taken by surprise when the draft bill that was presented to the parliament for deliberations was a found to be a fake one.

 “What happened exactly was that the draft bill was forged. The draft bill that was presented was without the signatures of the two parties”, Amun testified.

 “Speaker Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir stated that he would pass the national security act by the NCP’s mechanical majority in the parliament. We told him, if you manage to pass this law by a mechanical majority, we would congratulate you and this would be the NCP law, not the law prepared by the Government of National Unity, and if that happens, we would withdraw the SPLM officers from the National Security and Intelligence Services and the National Intelligent services remain an apparatus of the NCP alone”, Amun disclosed.

 The SPLM luminary divulged that the NCP has withdrawn the disputed draft bill of the national security act, which was rejected by the SPLM.

 Last month (October), Sudanese opposition parties withdrew from the national parliament refusing to support the vote of national security law without the participation of the SPLM.

 The SPLM boycotted the activities of the National Assembly since the second week of October, requesting a clear timetable to discuss and vote the outstanding bills related to the democratic transition in this last parliamentary session before the elections slated for April next year.

 Besides the referendum law, the proposed national security bill presented by the NCP was seen as a violation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed on 9th January 2005 between the NCP and the SPLM.

The SPLM and the opposition lawmakers want any article empowering the security service to arrest people and confiscate people’s property be removed from the draft bill.

“The security apparatus, in accordance with the Interim National Constitution and the CPA, has no right to arrest people or search people’s homes, offices, confiscate and seize their funds; stated the Chairman of the SPLM  Parliamentary block in the National Legislatures, Yassir Arman when the SPLM boycotted the parliamentary session on the national security bill, reaffirming his party’s position.