Date: 2/2/2010
Chairman,
The National Elections Commission,
Khartoum.
Dear Chairman,
Subject: Your letter No./NEC/1/A/1 dated 1st February, 2010
February 11, 2010 (Khartoum) — I have received your letter referred to above. I agree with you as to the documents guiding the National Elections Commission. It is the provisions of the same documents that made us to raise our objection to the Commission and not the courts as you suggest.
First: Article 45(1) and 45(2) read together with Article 10(1) of the General Elections Rules 2009, have been observed by the High Commission in Juba. They published the list forty eight hours after the close of nominations and have asked all concerned to submit their objections within seventy-two hours on Form No. (11) in accordance with Article 10(2) of the Rules. This is exactly what we did. The form is to be submitted to the Commission and not to the courts.
Second: Article 10(3) clearly specifies that it is the Commission to look into the objections.
Third: According to Article 10(5) appeals to the courts can only be made by those whose nominations have been rejected by the Commission on Form No. (13).
Mr. Chairman,
These are the relevant provisions and I hope we are reading from the same script. Article 12(2)(a) of the Political Parties Act 2007 prohibits army officers in active service from being involved in politics, including nominations for elections. It was well appreciated that the Commission did draw the attention of General Salva Kiir Mayardit to the fact well before nominations opened. However, Mr. Chairman, you wrote to him your letter No. NEC/1-A-1 dated 21st of January 2010 in which you concluded that “he is not an army officer” and “is therefore qualified to nominate himself or be nominated by others for the office of President of government of Southern Sudan.”
Mr. Chairman,
Your conclusion was based solely on what you “learnt through the letter of Minister, Dr Luka Biong Deng, that H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit was retired from the SPLA on 16th July, 2007.”(sic). Our objection is based on the fact that the information provided by the Minister, on which basis you arrived at the conclusion that he is not an army officer, is NOT TRUE. We presented to the Commission some of the evidence we have. The only ruling expected from the Commission is either to stand by the conclusion of its Chairman as above or if it is persuaded by our argument that he is indeed an army officer in active service then his name be struck out of the list of candidates.
We look forward for a definitive ruling from the Commission on the basis of the Act and the Rules.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Dr Lam Akol Ajawin,
Chairman, SPLM- DC,
Candidate for the Presidency of
the Government of Southern Sudan.
Attachment:
Letter of the Chairman of the National Elections Commission
No. NEC/1-A-1 dated 21st January, 2010.