RAM~MI~RAN
18-Feb-07, 18:13
Divided visions as southern Sudan parties prepare for 2008 elections
Feb. 17, (Juba) - Southern Sudan political parties will start their campaigns for the 2008 general elections later this year, reported the privately-owned Juba Post newspaper 15 February.
So far, there are two political parties in southern Sudan: the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which is led by First Vice-President Salva Kiir Mayardit, and the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by Peter Sule.
The SPLM is now a proper national party advocating a unified Sudan. This is in accordance with the 2005 peace agreement. The party hopes to set up its main HQs in Khartoum and launch its campaign in November 2007. According to the SPLM, the party "is open to all Sudanese, including northerners".
However, the UDF remains strongly anti-north and advocates the secession of the south. One of the party's slogans is "South for Southerners." Party leader Sule told the privately-owned Sudan Radio Service on 24 January 2007 that "the right choice for southern Sudanese would be to vote for separation from the north so that the south can freely develop its own cultures and country without interference from the north".
(New Sudan Vision)
Feb. 17, (Juba) - Southern Sudan political parties will start their campaigns for the 2008 general elections later this year, reported the privately-owned Juba Post newspaper 15 February.
So far, there are two political parties in southern Sudan: the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which is led by First Vice-President Salva Kiir Mayardit, and the United Democratic Front (UDF) led by Peter Sule.
The SPLM is now a proper national party advocating a unified Sudan. This is in accordance with the 2005 peace agreement. The party hopes to set up its main HQs in Khartoum and launch its campaign in November 2007. According to the SPLM, the party "is open to all Sudanese, including northerners".
However, the UDF remains strongly anti-north and advocates the secession of the south. One of the party's slogans is "South for Southerners." Party leader Sule told the privately-owned Sudan Radio Service on 24 January 2007 that "the right choice for southern Sudanese would be to vote for separation from the north so that the south can freely develop its own cultures and country without interference from the north".
(New Sudan Vision)