The Southern Sudan Referendum Commission yesterday announced in Juba the preliminary results of the just-concluded self-determination exercise.
Addressing thousands of people who came to witness the official announcement at the John Garang Mausoleum, Justice Chan Reec Madut, who heads the referendum bureau, said 99.5 percent of voters living in south Sudan voted for secession while only 0.43 voted for unity.Professor Mohammed Ibrahim Khalil, chairperson of the Khartoum-based Referendum Commission, announced the results of north Sudan and the eight countries where voting took place.
Mr. Khalil said the grand total for the north and the out of country voting is 23 percent for unity and 77 percent for secession.
He added that the results lead to an emergence of two states instead of one state.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit told the participants that voting was not the end of every thing.
He cautioned that an independent South Sudan faces many challenges and called upon the southerners to remain united and respect the remaining interim period.