Member News
By The Earl of Sandwich - 4th March 2010
The Earl of Sandwich writes for ePolitix.com ahead of his question on greater autonomy for southern Sudan.
Foreign Office minister Baroness Kinnock is speaking at the launch of a new report from the all-party group on Sudan at the Overseas Development Institute on March 18th. One of the report's recommendations concerns the referendum due to take place in South Sudan in January 2011.
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended years of civil war in Sudan contained a momentous decision intended to satisfy secessionists in southern Sudan, namely to hold a referendum in the south in January 2011 on secession or unity; in other words, whether or not the south should become a separate state. My own view is that the south can only realistically argue for more autonomy, rather than secession, because it will be dependent on the north for many years to come, not least for the extraction and export of natural resources. But it is for the people to decide, and if they want to secede, a lot of work needs to be done on the various scenarios in which that secession could take place.
My question in the Lords is therefore to ask the government what it is doing to help southern Sudan, immediately after the nationwide April elections, to start preparing for the referendum next year, and especially to work alongside other donors to develop alternative scenarios in the likely event of a vote for secession. The voters will not want to be disappointed by their leaders: they will want to know the way ahead, otherwise they may turn back to violence.
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd