The candidate for the position of the referendum commission Secretary General is no longerinterested in assuming the post, Sudan Tribune has learned.
The development comes only days after the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) agreed to let a figure from the North assume the position of the Secretary General who controls the funds and budget of the commission.
The head of the commission Mohamed Ibrahim Khalil has nominated Omer Al-Sheik who worked in the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). The SPLM has directed fierce criticism at the choice of Al-Sheik saying that he failed in his duties within MINURSO and thus is not suitable to be the commission’s Secretary General.
A source close to Al-Sheik told Sudan Tribune that the latter has made his intentions known to Khalil who asked him to think it over and not make his desire to turn it down public. According to the source, the prospective SG wants to accommodate his former professor but at the same time feels uncomfortable with accepting the position given the controversies surrounding the referendum process and the highly polarized atmosphere.