VZCZCXRO0233
RR RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0125/01 0531616
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 221616Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0260
INFO IGAD COLLECTIVE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000125 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/22 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KDEM KPKO SU
SUBJECT: SPLM Describes Successes in Negotiations 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Robert E. Whitehead, Charge d'Affaires; REASON: 
1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: In a February 21 meeting, Government of Southern 
Sudan (GOSS) Vice President Riek Machar told Special Envoy Gration 
that the SPLM had reached agreement with the NCP for 40 additional 
seats in the National Assembly for the South, four for South 
Kordofan and two for Abyei. They had also agreed to conduct a new 
census in Southern Kordofan, and to conduct only national executive 
branch and legislative elections until the census results are in 
and state legislative constituencies can be redrawn, after which 
state executive and legislative elections would be held.  They also 
agreed to accept the North-South Border commission's report 
delimiting more than 80 percent of the border and instructed the 
Commission to begin demarcation on the ground.  Although agreement 
has been reached on the composition of the Southern Sudan and Abyei 
Referendum and Human Rights Commissions, chairmen and vice chairmen 
had still not been decided for the Abyei and Human Rights 
Commissions.  With the issuance of the Presidential resolution on 
post-referendum arrangements, the parties will focus on post-2011 
and the border.  The SPLM refused to withdraw Yasir Arman as the 
Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) candidate for the 
presidency.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
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Resolution of Census, Southern Kordofan Issues Reached 
 
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¶2. (C) Special Envoy Gration met February 21 with Government of 
Southern Sudan (GOSS) Vice President Riek Machar and other members 
of his high level negotiating team. Machar told the Special Envoy 
that north-south border demarcation commission had presented its 
report to the Presidency and it had been accepted as resolution of 
the vast majority of the border.  The committee was instructed to 
proceed with demarcation on the ground and to prepare a report for 
the Presidency on areas of disagreement so that they could be 
resolved.  On issues related to the census, they reached agreement 
to give an additional 40 seats to the South, four to Southern 
Kordofan and two to Abyei.  In Southern Kordofan, the Governor and 
Deputy Governor had agreed to delay state-level elections until a 
new census could be conducted and demarcation of state 
constituencies could be redone. (Comment:  The impact of a delay in 
state legislative elections on tpopular consultations, which 
require an elected legislature under the CPA, is not yet clear. End 
Comment)  However, they decided that it would be unfair to have the 
state unrepresented in the National Assembly for the four months 
during which the census and constituency delimitation would take 
place. In turn, the National Electoral Commission (NEC), with 
National Congress Party (NCP) support, agreed to accept the forms 
of SPLM candidates for the National Assembly that had been 
withdrawn so that the SPLM participants in national level 
elections.  Special Envoy Gration repeated the U.S. offer to assist 
the border demarcation effort through technical assistance. 
 
 
 
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Chairs of Commissions Still Under Discussion 
 
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¶3. (C) With respect to the composition of the commissions, Machar 
said agreement has been reached on the Chairman for the Southern 
Sudan Referendum Commission, Mohammed Ibrahim Khalid, who is 
expected to accept.  With regard to the Abyei Referendum 
Commission, the SPLM proposed the name of a candidate the NCP had 
earlier proposed for the chairmanship of the North-South Referendum 
Commission.  However, the NCP declined to accept him for the Abyei 
position, so the chairmanship remains unresolved.  For the Human 
Rights Commission, the SPLM had proposed a lawyer who is a member 
of the Democratic Union Party (DUP); it is not yet clear whether he 
is acceptable to the NCP.  GOSs minister of Presidential Affairs 
Luka Biong Deng also noted that the NCP agreed on the composition 
and relative numbers for the NCP and SPLM on the various 
commissions, but had not come forward with names.  Special Envoy 
Gration noted that any candidate for the Abyei Commission must be 
acceptable to the Misseriya as well as to the Dinka, and urged the 
committee to swiftly find a neutral candidate to propose for the 
position. 
 
KHARTOUM 00000125  002 OF 002 
 
 
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Focus Now on Border, Post-2011 
 
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¶4. (C) From here on, Machar said, the focus will be on border and 
post-referendum issues.  The President had issued a resolution to 
this effect, dated February 20. (Note: Machar provided the text of 
the resolution, which provides that the parties should use the 
spirit and experience of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 
their work; and agree on a framework for discussion that will 
ensure Sudanese ownership of the process. End Note) The 
international community should play a role, Machar said, but the 
exact role has not yet been defined. 
 
 
 
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SPLM Stood Firm on Yasir Arman's Candidacy 
 
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¶5.  (C) The Special Envoy asked how the SPLM had been able to 
secure such a large increase in the number of National Assembly 
seats.  Machar replied that the NCP had tried to pressure the SPLM 
to withdraw Yasir Arman's name as SPLM candidate for the 
Presidency.  The SPLM refused, Machar said, because their 
partnership with the NCP in the CPA is an equal partnership with 
equal opportunity.  SPLM refused to accept the NCP's concept of 
unity, Machar said, and the person who truly represents unity is 
Yasir Arman. (Comment: It remains unclear what, if anything, the 
SMLP traded for this victory. End Comment) 
 
 
 
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Harmony In International Contributions to Post-2011 
 
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¶6.  (C) Asked how the SPLM sees the interaction between the AU's 
Mbeki and his high level panel, the Intergovernmental Authority on 
Development (IGAD), UNMIS Special Representative of the Secretary 
General (SRSG) Haile Menkarios, and UNAMID Joint Special 
Representative (JSR) Gambari, Machar said he believed that they 
could all work together harmoniously.  He noted that during the 
Naivasha process, the United States, the Troika, IGAD, the IGAD 
Partner's Forum, the Chief Mediator and the United Nations all 
played important roles. 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) The Special Envoy's staff cleared this cable. 
WHITEHEAD