The UN Panel tasked with monitoring the upcoming referenda on self-determination for South Sudan and Abyei urged people to register in order to be able to vote.
The United Nations Secretary-General’s panel yesterday visited some referendum sites around Khartoum as the registration phase kicked off around the country and abroad, the UN said in a press release.Benjamin Mkapa, a former President of Tanzania who chairs the Panel, said the number of people who registered was extremely small around Khartoum.
Mr. Mkapa added that reports from UN staff in the field indicated that people were turning out in large numbers across the south.
Other panel members are Ant√¢‚Ǩ’nio Monteiro, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, and Bhojraj Pokharel, a former Chairman of the Election Commission of Nepal.
Voter registration began yesterday at about 2,500 registration centres in South Sudan, and 165 in the north.