South Sudan's January Referendum In Doubt

South Sudan's January Referendum In Doubt

Sudan has asked the United Nations to reopen a tender to print ballot papers for the south's referendum on secession, with a deadline of December 5 , to allow Sudanese firms to bid.

Commenting on the development, the Referendum Commission's spokesman, George Makuer, said that further said that any delay could make the independent vote, expected to create the world's newest nation, impossible.

The United Nations had said that it needed up to three weeks to distribute voting materials to the south, which has little infrastructure. It could not immediately comment on why it had agreed to reopen the bid.

Parties to decide on polling date

A spokesman of the Sudanese's SuGDE Observers, Ali Mohamed, said that the commission has now moved the polling back by 10 days, stressing that the development is a political.

Mohamed said that the Northern Sudan's ruling National Congress Party and the southern ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) would need to make a decision on the date.

An extension of one week for the registration has also put pressure on the vote deadline, which the SPLM has said is a red line, fearing a significant delay may cause violence among southerners.

Southern officials had earlier said that they wanted the voting and registration materials printed in a neutral location outside Sudan to avoid any possibility of manipulation.

REUTERS/Williams