Independence Referendum – 2010
2010
The members of the referendum commission were appointed in June 2010. The National Assembly approved the nominees appointed to serve on the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission submitted by the Presidency on 28 June 2010. The Government of Southern Sudan nominated members to serve in the Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau who were to be sworn in in July. In August, members of the ten Southern Sudan Referendum State High Committees were nominated and sworn in. On 2 September 2010, Mohamed Osman El-Negoumi was nominated as the Secretary General of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission; and his nomination was ratified by the Presidency. Parties to the CPA also held a post-referendum negotiation exposure workshop in Juba on 20 July 2010 as part of their discussion on post-referendum issues.1
Once the institutional structures were in place, the referendum commission approved the voter registration training manual and training of the State Referendum High Committee state level trainers in South Sudan started and was completed on 28 October. A South Sudan political Parties Conference was also organized in Juba from 13-17 October which adopted a “Common Code of Conduct for the Referenda and Popular Consultations.”2 Voter registration took place on 15 November as scheduled by the referendum commission and was extended for 7 days until 8 December 2010.3
The National Assembly adopted the Abyei Referendum Bill 2009.4 There was no progress on setting up an institutional framework for the referendum.