South-South dialogue calls for equitable voter registration

November 17, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — Three days meeting convened by eight southern Sudan political parties, peacefully ended yesterday in Khartoum with call for equitable and participatory voter registration in the region.

Dr. Lam Akol, former foreign affairs minister and a leader of the SPLM-DC

The South Sudan Political Parties Consensus Dialogue Forum, meeting held in Khartoum in the period 14 – 16 November 2009, accused the southern Sudan ruling party, the SPLM, of denying during the last five years all other political parties the freedom to operate in South Sudan.

The meeting further urged the southern Sudan government to ensure unhindered freedom for the other political parties to disseminate their ideas in the semi-autonomous region. They also asked to not use the southern Sudan army, SPLA, for political purposes.

The parties taking part in the meeting resolved to form an alliance to fight the elections together as one bloc. The alliance is to be known as "The Alliance of South Sudan Political Parties" and shall be headed by a leadership body comprising the heads of all the parties and an appropriately constituted Secretariat, said the final communiqué of the conference.

Dr. Lam Akol, former foreign affairs minister and a leader of the SPLM-DC whose party participated in the meeting expressed concern over slow progress in voter registration across region. "The voter registration is of course moving at snail style because public were not adequately informed," he told Sudan Tribune.

"I tell you nobody among the ordinary people in the south knew there would be voter registration in the region because ruling party had in the first place shown reluctance to mobilize public turn out for registration," Akol further said.

He continued to say, they, (SPLM) instead of engaging in publicity campaign, started date of the registration with cants against elections and infuriation to boycott.

Akol added that the SPLM officials also have been engaged in all sorts of ill practices coined to deny participation of other political forces in the desperately needed democratic transformation in the region during elections.

However, he called upon members and supporters of the SPLM-DC, in the whole country both South and Northern to embrace peaceful mobilization in order to encourage people to go to the registration centers in their numbers.

The former foreign minister said the SPLM-DC intends to participate in the upcoming general elections adding that the candidates of the party would sleeve all constituencies and file candidates for Governors and Commissioners in all the states.

Akol did not speak about his candidacy for the Sudanese or southern Sudan presidencies but it was reported that he intends to run for the presidency of southern Sudan government.

The new political coalition formed by the southern parties said in its communiqué that the membership of the alliance is open to any political party that wishes to join.

The parties that participated in the dialogue conference and now are members of the new alliance are SANU, UDSF, United Democratic Party, SPLM-DC, Sudan National Labor Party, USAP-2, South Sudan Democratic Forum, South-Sudan Democratic Front.