South Kordofan’s deputy governor rejects award by Sudan President
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April 29, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The deputy governor of Sudan’s central
state of South Kordofan, Abdul Aziz Adam Al-Hilu, has refused to
accept an insignia of achievement awarded to him by President
Al-Bashir, citing his unhappiness with the leader’s recent threats to
wage war in his state.
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Abdul Aziz Adam Al Hilu, deputy governor of Southern Kordofan (Reuters Pictures)
Sudan’s official news agency SUNA on Wednesday reported that Al-Bashir
had issued a decree awarding the Insignia of Political Achievement to
South Kordofan governor, Ahmad Harun, and deputy governor, Al-Hilu,
“in recognition of the two men’s role and efforts in the past period.”
The two men are the frontrunners in South Kordofan’s gubernatorial
elections due to be held alongside legislative elections on May 2,
after the exercise was delayed for over a year since Sudan held
nationwide elections in April 2010 due to disagreements over the 2008
census and delimitation of geographic constituencies.
Ahmad Harun, who happens to be wanted by the International Criminal
Court (ICC) for his alleged role in atrocities committed in the
country’s western region of Darfur, is the candidate of Al-Bashir’s
ruling National Congress Party (NCP) whereas Al-Hilu is running on the
ticket of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which
controls the soon-to-be independent South Sudan.
Addressing a public rally in the state’s provincial capital,
Al-Dilling, on Thursday Al-Hilu thanked Al-Bashir for the award but
said he declines to accept it. He said that the first reason for his
refusal is the threats issued by Al-Bashir to wage war in South
kordofan.
President Al-Bashir threatened in a speech he delivered on Tuesday in
Al-Mujlad town in South Kordofan to respond with an all-out war in the
state if the SPLM resorts to violence as a mean to win the elections.
“The movement [SPLM] must submit to the will of ballot boxes or else
boxes of bullets will decide the matter,” he warned.
“What political achievement is he [Al-Bashir] talking about after he
threatened to wage war a mountain to mountain and a state to state,”
Al-Hilu said.
Tension in South Kordofan has been exacerbated ahead of the sensitive
polls after the paramilitary Popular Defense Forces (PDF), allegedly
backed by Harun, attacked El-Feid village and reportedly killed 17
people.
Al-Hilu said that the second reason for his refusal was the use of
state-resources in supporting the electoral campaign of Ahmad Harun,
citing as an example the live-broadcasting by the so-called national
media of Harun’s rallies in a “clear violation of the elections law.”
The Carter Center (TCC), a US-based organization, expressed concern on
Thursday over “deterioration in South Kordofan’s security
environment,” in reference to the violence that broke out in El-Feid.
The only international elections-observation mission in South Kordofan
warned that “continuing tensions between rival candidates in certain
areas could negatively affect voter turnout, impact the results, and
therefore reduce the credibility of the electoral process.”
It urged increased efforts by Sudan government and that of South Sudan
to diminish tension in the state and refrain from negative campaign
rhetoric. On a positive note, however, TCC noted that the recently
concluded candidate nomination period was “largely conducted
transparently, efficiently, and peacefully.”
South Kordofan straddles the yet-to-be demarcated borders between
north and south Sudan, which voted in a referendum earlier this year
to secede in July under the terms of the 2005’s Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA) which ended decades of north-south civil wars during
which South Kordofan witnessed fierce battles.
(ST)
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