Sudan: Praise for Referendum as Preliminary Results Report Landslide Vote for Secession

Preliminary results from the referendum indicate a landslide victory for independence in South Sudan, as support for secession in the poll may reach as high as 99 percent.  In the Juba, results point to a 97.5% vote in favor of independence. So far 2,198,422 votes have been cast in the referendum in favor of secession, which exceeds the required 1.89 million votes needed for the turnout to be declared valid. George Benjamin of Sudan’s referendum commission stated that both the National Congress Party, Omar al-Bashir’s ruling party, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) have indicated they will accept the results the of the referendum.  He also said the commission was pleased with how the referendum turned out.  The African Union has declared the referendum “free, fair, and credible” and the Carter Center released a statement on Monday congratulating the Sudanese for the, “successful conduct of the historic referendum on self-determination.”  In a State Department press release, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised northern and southern leaders for, “creating conditions that allowed voters to cast their ballots freely and without fear, intimidation, or coercion.”

Update: On Thursday, the Sudanese Network for Democratic Elections (SuNDE) and the Sudanese Group for Democracy and Elections (SuGDE) deemed the elections to be credible and stated that their observations show that voter participation far exceeded the required 60%, indicating that the referendum results will show support for secession. The groups also offered several recommendations for future elections.