Israel Matzav

South Sudan votes to secede

It's not surprising that South Sudan voted to secede from the North. What's amazing is the percentage, which is by far the highest I can recall voting for anything or anyone in a free and fair election.

WITH MOST of the votes counted, almost 99 per cent of southern Sudanese who voted in last week’s independence referendum have chosen to split from the north.

According to the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, 98.6 % of the 3.2 million people who voted chose secession, with more than 80 per cent of the votes in the south counted. Just 1.4 per cent chose unity. The commission had earlier confirmed that the turnout exceeded the 60 per cent required for a valid result.

“The result was the one that was expected,” Bona Malwal Madut, veteran Sudanese politician and adviser to northern Sudan’s president Omer al-Bashir said, adding that Khartoum would respect the result as promised under the 2005 peace agreement between both sides.

Read the whole thing.

Now, about those diplomatic relations with Israel....

Labels: diplomatic relations, Dr. Francis Nazario, South Sudan

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:36 PM