SPLM Rejects Census Results

Khartoum
8 May, 2009 (SRS)

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement has declared that it rejects the results of the fifth national population census which was endorsed by the presidency of the republic on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference in Khartoum on Thursday, the SPLM secretary-general, Pagan Amum said the SPLM is not convinced of the authenticity of the census results.

[Pagan Amum]: “We have studied this issue at our level as SPLM and now we would like to declare our total rejection of the results of the census and we consider that these results give us a reason to doubt the credibility of the census exercise especially with regards to the points that we have reservations to, maybe the results of the census would be used for other purposes but these results cannot be used as basis for peaceful power-sharing and for wealth-sharing in the country, and even for development purposes we still doubt these results. We, as SPLM, would like to declare our position today regarding these census results and this is the confirmation of the position undertaken by the SPLM chairman and the first Vice-President of the Republic during their meeting yesterday”.

During the meeting to endorse the census results, the first Vice-President and SPLM chairman, Salva Kiir Mayardit, said the SPLM has a unified position on the census results and will not accept the results of the census that was announced by the National Population Council.

Amum added that the results of the census, which was endorsed by the presidency, is not good for demarcation of geographical constituencies as the people of Sudan prepare for the coming general elections in February 2010.

[Pagan Amum]: “We communicated with the census commission in southern Sudan and yesterday they held a press conference. The census that has been conducted in northern Sudan has three main observations and the census commission in Khartoum does not cooperate in responding to these observations: the first observation is that the population of Sudanese nationals originally from southern Sudan in Khartoum has been numbered to be about 240 thousand. Previous estimates, whether from the government, or local communities around the city indicated more than 1 million southern Sudanese citizens. The number of all southern Sudanese citizens who have been counted in all the fifteen states of northern Sudan has been numbered to be about 500,000 citizens and our estimates indicate more than this number”.

Amum also accused the National Population Council of committing technical errors and indulging in foul play. He also accused the NCP of using the census results for political purposes in the Darfur region.

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