د. فرانسيس دينق يصدر بيان ينفي فيه بأنه قد صوت لصالح الوحدة.

Statement by Dr. Francis M. Deng


I have learned that it has been rumored and even broadcast on television that I voted for unity. That did not happen. In fact, I was informed that the citizens of Abyei in the diaspora were not allowed to register, far less vote, in the Southern Referendum. I therefore did not vote. But had I voted, there can be no doubt that I would have voted for the secession of the South. That I support independence is evident in my writings and in my public statements, both at home and abroad. It is difficult to see how a Southerner could vote for unity under the present system in which Southerners would continue to be treated as second-class citizens.


Of course, I have been a strong supporter of the vision of the SPLM for a new Sudan of full equality for all citizens. However, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was a compromise based on the recognition that the vision of the New Sudan could not be achieved through armed liberation struggle alone. Since unity could not be made attractive for the people of the South under the current system, Southern independence was the predictable and just outcome of the self-determination referendum.

Nevertheless, I have no doubt that the vision of New Sudan – of full equality of all racial, ethnic and cultural groups – has so inspired many throughout the country that it will continue to be pursued in the North through the democratic process. Should that be achieved, perhaps that will create a basis for reconsidering the relationship between the North and the South. After all, as I wrote in my recently published book, Sudan at the Brink: Self-Determination and National Unity, “unity and separation are varying degrees of relationships that could be strengthened or weakened by the qualitative factors involved.” For now, however, the exercise of self-determination has given the people of the South the freedom to pursue equality, integrity and dignity. For this achievement the people of the South should be exceedingly happy and proud, and should indeed be congratulated.





18 January 2011