SUDAN / ABYEI VOTING

Polling centers in Abyei town started sluggishly - just like in many centers countrywide - with voters hoping that the candidates they vote for will bring much needed development in the area. UNMIS

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:55
• Production Date: 12 April 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANCE MISSION IN SUDAN - UNMIS
• Subject Topical: ELECTIONS
• Geographic Subject: SUDAN
• MAMS Id: U100412h

Description

STORY: SUDAN / ABYEI VOTING
TRT: 1:55
SOURCE: UNMIS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 11 APRIL 2010, ABYEI TOWN / MAKA / NONG SUDAN

Shotlist

11 APRIL 2010, ABYEI TOWN, SUDAN

1. Wide shot, voters lining up outside polling centre
2. Med shot, voters in line
3. Close up, sign written Polling Station
4. Wide shot, ballot boxes with voters in the background
5. Med shot, ballot papers
6. Various shots, voters and polling staff
7. Med shot, voter putting folded ballot paper in box
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Voter in Abyei:
“For me it is the first time of. I am not going to say a free election but at least it is somehow organized and it is very important to give your vote for somebody who you trust can do something for your area.”

11 APRIL 2010, MAKA, ABYEI SUDAN

9. Various shots, Sudan’s Foreign Affairs Minister and Candidate Deng Alor casting his vote
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Deng Alor, Foreign Affairs Minister and Candidate, Sudan:
“Elections are part of the Peace Agreement. It’s a requirement that we have to meet, and after these elections we would be left with only one very important event and that is the referendum. And this election is also going to enlighten the people to teach the people how to vote in the upcoming referendum because it will be easy for people to vote. It is a learning process for them.”

11 APRIL 2010, NONG, ABYEI SUDAN

12. Exterior shot, polling center
13. Med shot, polling station flag
14. Med shot, temporary polling station
15. Various shots, people voting

Storyline

Polling centers in the town of Abyei and its immediate surrounding area saw a sluggish start to voting as voters lined up to cast ballots in Sudan’s first multi-party elections in 24 years.

Abyei lies at the centre of an oil-rich area that has remained at the heart of a major national dispute between the country’s north and south and was the focus of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005.

In 2008, clashes erupted in the town causing the displacement of tens of thousands of people. Many of them have since returned and there are now about 10,000 residents in Abyei and close to 700,000 people in Abyei’s outlying areas.

SOUNDBITE (English) Voter in Abyei:
“For me it is the first time of. I am not going to say a free election but at least it is somehow organized and it is very important to give your vote for somebody who you trust can do something for your area.”

In January 2011, residents in Abyei will also vote in a referendum to determine whether they would like to be part of North or South Sudan.

SOUNDBITE (English) Deng Alor, Foreign Affairs Minister and Candidate, Sudan:
“Elections are part of the Peace Agreement. It’s a requirement that we have to meet, and after these elections we would be left with only one very important event and that is the referendum. And this election is also going to enlighten the people – to teach the people how to vote in the upcoming referendum because it will be easy for people to vote. It is a learning process for them.”

Voters in the north are expected to cast eight ballots while those in the south are expected to cast twelve, in an election that has been boycotted by some opposition parties.

In an effort to provide everyone with an equal opportunity to vote, the election period has been extended to five days and 16 million registered voters are expected to go to the polls.