Sudan elections body aiming for Darfur referendum by July

The National Elections Commission announced that it would be working to achieve the referendum on the permanent status of Darfur on a time that is no later than the first of July. The voting process would last for two days, according to the announcement.

The commission said in a press statement that the referendum aims to take the opinion of the citizens in the three states of Darfur on the permanent status of Darfur based on two options: keep the current status of the states or form Darfur into a single province comprising all three existing states.

The commission confirmed that it had put down a plan for the referendum campaign that would explain the purpose of the referendum and increase the awareness on the two options with regards to the fact the citizens of the three states have the right to participate in the referendum campaigns.