In a major move to end a simmering crisis that threatened to torpedo their peace deal, Sudan’s political rivals on December 13 announced an agreement on terms of a referendum on the independence of the south. “With this agreement, we announce the end of the crisis between the two partners,” Pagan Amum, Secretary-General of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), told a press conference. He said the agreement sets the terms of the 2011 referendum on the independence of south Sudan. “We have reached agreement on three very important laws which have been the grounds for serious disagreements between the two parties.”
He said SPLM and the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) agreed on the proportion of votes and the turnout needed for the referendum to be binding. The SPLM had wanted the referendum result to be determined by a 50+1 majority, while the NCP sought a two-thirds majority. Amum said the laws also cover a separate ballot on whether the oil-rich region of Abyei should join the south, and vaguer consultation exercises for the populations of the border regions of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.