JUBA (Sudan) -A senior official in Southern Sudan's ruling party said later Saturday that there was no need to delay the country's Jan. 9 independence vote, and accused the Khartoum-based National Congress Party of attempting to push back the vote. Five weeks remain until the south is scheduled to vote on an independence referendum that could see the south break away from the north and create the world's newest country. Anne Itto, a top official in the south's Sudan People's Liberation Movement and a minister in the southern government, insisted that delaying the referendum for "even a single day" is unacceptable to southerners. The National Congress Party, which heads the Sudanese government in Khartoum, has deliberately blocked progress on "activities related to the preparation of the referendum," Itto said. "They've really wanted it not to be conducted as scheduled," said Itto. The 2005 north-south peace accord that ended more than two decades of civil war called for the northern and southern parties to work together to conduct the January independence vote. Issues like border demarcation and oil revenue sharing have yet to be worked out. Itto's announcement that the south wants no delay in the vote comes amid press reports indicating that Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil, a northerner who is the chairman of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, has asked Sudan President Omar al-Bashir and Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir to consider delaying the vote. Itto said that the southern party and the commission itself have been assured by the United Nations Development Program and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems that it is still possible to carry out the vote on time. Ballots have not yet been printed, but Itto said if the bidding process for the printing is not delayed, it is still possible to print and distribute the them on time. Itto said that more than 3 million southerners have registered to vote Jan. 9. The registration process ends Dec. 8. "Everyone wants to make that important historic choice," said Itto.
