South Sudan almost unanimously voted to declare independence from the north in a referendum,
officials announced Sunday, sparking mass celebrations in the southern capital Juba.
John
Ashworth is an ecumenical advisor to the Sudanese Bishops conference and was part
of the bishops observers team at the January 9th poll.
He welcomed
the results but also says many issues must yet be resolved ahead of Southern Sudan
declaring independence on July 9th. “One is the parts of Sudan that were
parts of the Southern war but that are in the North. Abyei, the Nuba mountains and
there’s Blue Nile. Those areas are supposed to have popular consultation but they
haven’t had it yet. There’s a lot of tension in those areas”.
Ashworth praises
the smooth running of the poll, describing it as an enormous and historic undertaking,
but says a lot of work still needs to be done to resolve outstanding issues between
the North and South: “For example parts of the border haven’t been delineated yet.
There’s no agreement yet on the sharing of oil or on how the national debt and the
liabilities will be handled. There is no agreement on citizenship. So there are real
fears for Southerners who are living in the North. These issues still need to be negotiated”.