Roundup: Referendum in Sudan's Darfur kicks off amid rebel boycott

A referendum started on Monday in Sudan's conflict-hit Darfur to vote on whether to keep its current five-state system, or unify them in a single region, amid rebel boycott.

The rebels say the referendum cannot be fair due to the heavy fighting in the region, which means that many people, particularly the displaced, will not be able to vote, while the government will mobilise its supporters in state capitals and large towns.

The Sudanese government, however, stressed that the vote must go ahead according to a 2011 peace deal.

The fighting in Darfur has forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes, while more than 300,000 others have died since 2003, according to the United Nations.

The referendum is held in accordance with Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), signed between Sudan's government and the Libration and Justice Movement (LJM) in 2011.

Under the deal, if Darfurians vote for one state, then the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA) will form a constitutional committee to determine the authority of Darfur's regional governments.

However, if they vote for the current five states, then, the current status will remain, and the TDRA will be dissolved.

Darfur had been one administrative region since Sudan's independence in 1956 until 1989 when the National Salvation Revolution, led by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, took power and divided Sudan into 26 states including the current South Sudan.

A total of 3,532,226 registered voters will have three days to cast their ballots at 1,420 polling stations in 65 localities.

The option of five states, which is favored by the central government, appears to be supported by many in Darfur, who see the one-region system as likely to cripple the flow of services to the region that has been witnessing a civil war since 2003.

"Each state in Darfur wants to have its own identity and be in contact with the center without a middle party," Al-Dirdiry Ahmed Al-Dirdiry, deputy chairman of the referendum mobilization committee in West Darfur State, told Xinhua.

"West Darfur State, for instance, is bordering Chad, and when there is a middle party between us and the center, many services will not flow to the state. We had an experience with the one-region system which has greatly affected us," he said.

Also, a leading member in the Sudan National Liberation Party said that mass rallies in Darfur ahead of the referendum supported the five-state option.

"During the rallies, the people used to raise their five fingers , signaling their support for the five-state option," he said. "We do not want to return to the one region system."

In public streets and major markets of Darfur, huge signboards were raised to urge the citizens of the region to vote for the option of five states.

Fardous Mohamed Adam, the official in charge of the women's sector in Central Darfur State, told Xinhua that "we support the option of five states."

She said that when Darfur was one region, people suffered a lot and they do not want to return to that suffering.

"Darfur is a vast sprawling and multi-tribal region and it cannot be one region, and therefore we will opt for the five states system," she said.

In North Darfur State, polling stations have reported initial high high turnout on the first day of the referendum, according to its governor.

"In North Darfur, we have around 500 polling centers distributed to the state's capital El Fasher and the rest of the localities. According to what we have seen in El Fasher and the reports we receive from the other centers, the voters' turnout is intensive," Governor Abdul-Wahid Yousif, told reporters after casting his vote at a polling station.

He said the boycott by some Darfur armed groups and representatives of displaced persons has not affected the process.

"The process is progressing as planned," Yousif said. "There are positive atmospheres and the security situation is completely stable." Endit