Skip to main content
Sudan

South Sudan votes for independence

Close to 99 per cent of south Sudanese voted to secede from the north in an independence referendum, according to the first complete preliminary results announced on Sunday. Official figures were announced publicly for the first time during a ceremony attended by southern President Salva Kiir in the southern capital Juba.

Reuters/Tim McKulka/Unmis Handout
Advertising

There was 99 per cent turnout in the south, and only 16,129 people voted to remain united, according to the Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau. Of those who voted, 99.57 per cent chose secession.

Of southerners living in the north, 58 per cent voted for secession, giving an overall total of 98.83 in favour of independence.

"I assured you southerners would vote over 90 per cent and now you have proved me right," Kiir said. "I want to assure them and their families that these people did not die in vain.”

Kiir is expected at the African Union summit that opened on Sunday in Addis Ababa.

Khartoum and Juba have six months to agree on the demarcation of their border, oil revenue sharing, citizenship and the future of the disputed region of Abyei, before the south secedes on 9 July.

Daily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning

Keep up to date with international news by downloading the RFI app

Share :
Page not found

The content you requested does not exist or is not available anymore.