Sudan

South Sudan leader says unity will mean second-class status

Article published on the 2009-11-01 Latest update 2009-11-02 10:29 TU

Salva Kiir took over from SPLA leader John Garang.
(Photo: AFP)

Southern Sudanese President Salva Kiir warned his fellow countrymen Saturday that a vote for unity with the north would leave them as second-class citizens.

The semi-independent region is due to vote in 2011 on whether to separate from northern Sudan, as part of the 2005 comprehensive peace agreement that ended north-south civil war.

Previously officials have been careful in public to at least promote the unity between north and south, as the peace deal stipulates that both sides have to address the underlying causes of conflict before the referendum.

Kiir’s representatives spent Sunday backtracking from his declarations.

“I think it was taken out of context, as if he said that he supported the people of southern Sudan to vote for separation,” says southern Sudan's Minister for Presidential Affairs, Doctor Luka Biong Deng. “What he [actually] said [was]: if you decide to vote for succession, that’s your choice and I will respect it.”

“The second-class citizen – this is a general psychological feeling that we have in the south. So he was just describing the conditions in which they are going to vote,” Deng told RFI.