Halayb between the Sudanese & Egyptian Elections 1953-1992
12 October, 2014Khartoum (Sudanow) Statements by the Sudanese National Elections Commission on Sunday, 7 September, 2014 indicating: “the demarcation of the geographic constituencies for the forthcoming parliamentary elections in the Sudan will include Halayb region” excited angry reactions in Cairo.
Ambassador Badur Abdul Atti, the spokesman of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declared on Monday, 8 September, 2014 that: “Halayb and Shalatin are indivisible part of Egyptian territories which cannot be partitioned or negotiated with the sisterly Sudan.” Ambassador Abdul Atti was reported by MENA as saying in an interview to the state-run Nile Television on Thursday, 11 September, 2014 that: “Halayb and Shalatin are a resolved question because they are part of the Egyptian territories.” He went on trifling the Sudanese position towards Halayb, adding: “Raising this issue on the media, whether the Sudanese or Egyptian is only aimed at disturbing the tranquil relations between the two countries.”
Abbas al-Tarabely wrote an article carried by Al-Wafd newspaper on Tuesday, 9 September titled “Halayb and the New Sudanese Provocation” saying that Halayb is part of Egypt that cannot be negotiated, asserting: “All documents confirm Egypt’s sovereignty over Halayb Triangle. And this was what I have personally revealed on the Al-Wafd since the early 1990s and I have stopped stating this only after Egypt has restored its full sovereignty over the Triangle.”
He went on to say that: “I have personally rejected a proposal during the regime of President Hosni Mubarak of making Halayb a region of economic integration. If we want to have integration with the Sudan, let it be away from any region which Khartoum claims is a Sudanese.”
The Egyptian media-man, Amr Adeeb, accused the ousted Egyptian President, Mohamed Mursy of giving the southern border town of Halayb to the Sudan, branding him as “un-national, a terrorist and a spy.”
We shall make it plain in this article that all the elections which were conducted in the Sudan, starting from the 1953 elections and ending with the 1986 elections included Halayb region and no objection or remarks were made by Cairo, except the elections in 1958. This article indicates that the Egyptian government has never conducted any elections in that region. Halayb has remained an administrative unit of the Red Sea Province until its occupation by the Egyptian forces in 1992.
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The First Parliamentary Elections in Sudan in 1953:
The first parliamentary election in Sudan was conducted in November 1953 under the Autonomy Act which was agreed upon by the three parties- England, Egypt and the Sudanese political parties- at the beginning of that year. A combined electoral commission was formed of seven members- three Sudanese appointed by the Governor-General while the four others were from England, Egypt, the United States of America and India. It was agreed that the Indian representative, Soko Mersin, chair the commission (see articles by Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Abu Shoak titled: The Sudanese Elections Commission from Soko Mersin to Mukhtar al-Asum, an assessment perusal, published on Sudanile and Alrakoba websites).
Egypt named Abdul Fattah Hassan as its representative in the Sudan Elections Commission for 1953. Besides Egypt’s membership in the Elections Commission, it must be reminded of two other points connected with Egypt’s acceptance of conducting elections in Halayb region. At the time, the Sudan was still an English-Egyptian colony run by the two countries under agreements they signed together. Therefore, Egypt had a role in running the Sudan affairs, a role that was boosted with formation of the Governor-General’s Council, under the Autonomy Act, in which Egypt was a member, namely Hassan Zul Figar, who had remained Egypt’s representative and advisor for the Governor-General till the end of December 1955.
For these reasons, Egypt had considerably and effectively participated in the 1953 elections the constituencies of which included Halayb region and its constituency, 70 Amar’ar and Al-Bushareen, was won by Mohamed Karrar Kajur of the National Unionist Party. The elections were also run in the villages which lied north of Wadi Halfa and latitude 22 North (Surrah, Farus, Dibairah and Argin which were known as Half Protrusion) and the constituency of those villages, Constituency 29 Wadi Halfa, was won by Mohamed Nor al-Dinn, also of the National Unionist Party.
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In spite of its status as party to the Condominium on the Sudan, Cairo had not raised the question of conducting by the Sudan of the elections in Halayb region nor was this opposed or objected to by Egypt’s representative in the Elections Commission, Abdul Fattah Hassan. Those elections, their details and results, including the elections in Halayb region, were blessed by Hussein Zul Figar, the Egyptian member in the Governor-General’s Council which supervised the exercise and approved its outcome.
Therefore, the 1953 elections was evidence of Halayb region full affiliation to the Sudan and Egypt’s full acceptance of this situation which confirmed by the memorandum on Egypt’s full recognition of the independence of Sudan. That memorandum did not contain any reference to Halayb region or its affiliation to Egypt nor did it contain any condition for this recognition. Thus, the Egyptian recognition of the independence of the Sudan, with its political borders that encompass Halayb and Halfa Protrusion, was made in 1956 without any conditions or provisions.
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A comparison must be held between the Egyptian position towards Halayb and the Ethiopian position towards Gambila region which was then under the administration of the Sudan. The Ethiopian government asked the government of Ismael al-Azhary to give that region back to Ethiopia before the latter recognized the independence of the Sudan. Azhary’s government eventually handed Gambila over to Ethiopia on January 1, 1956 when the English and Egyptian flags were pulled down and the Sudanese flag flew for minutes before it was brought down and substituted by the Ethiopian flag and the region was handed over to the new Ethiopian governor, his administrative crew and his military unit.
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The Second Sudanese Parliamentary Elections, 1958:
Preparations for the second parliamentary elections began in September 1957 and the voting was declared to start on February1, 1958 in all parts of the Sudan. During that electoral atmosphere, Egypt, for the first time, decided to raise Halayb Triangle question on 29 January 1958 when it sent the Sudanese Government a memorandum objecting to inclusion of Halayb region of the Red Sea coast and the region that lies north of Wadi Halfa among the electoral constituencies. It argued that the measure contradicted the agreement of January 19, 1899 and violated the Egyptian sovereignty. Acting on this allegation, the Egyptian government dispatched a military unit to Halayb region and another memorandum dated 9 February 1958 delivered by then Egypt’s Ambassador to Khartoum Saif al-Yazal Khalifa to then Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Khalil on 13 February 1958. That memorandum provided for participation by the inhabitants of Halayb and north of Wadi Halfa regions in the referendum establishing the United Arab Republic between Egypt and Syria.
Soon upon receiving this memorandum, the Sudan officially declared on 13 February, 1958 its absolute objection to the referendum Egypt had decided to organize in Halayb and North Wadi regions on grounds that the two regions were Sudanese territories according to the amendments of the Condominium Agreement and the subsequent understandings and according to the practical and administrative measures made by the Sudan in Halayb during the Condominium and the first civilian rule (from 1902 to 1958). Following those memoranda, a number of developments occurred, including a complaint by the Sudan to the UN Security Council, Egypt’s reversal of its decision of conducting the referendum, withdrawal of its military unit and permitting the Sudan to go on organizing the elections of 1958 (see articles by Dr. Salman Mohamed Ahmed Salman on Halayb dispute and the Sudan’s complaint to the UN Security Council published on his website and Sudanile and Alrakoba websites).
The Sudanese elections were conducted during February and March 1958 and Halayb constituency was divided into two constituencies- Amar’ar 96 which was won by Mohamed Hamad Mussa, of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and Bushareen 97 won by Hamid Karrar Ahmed, also PDP- while Mohamed Nor al-Dinn (PDP) retained his seat of Halfa Constituency 143.
Thus the second parliamentary elections were conducted in all parts of the Sudan, including Halayb region which became two electoral constituencies. Egypt’s recantation, organization of the Sudanese elections and non-organization of the Egyptian referendum offered a firm proof that supported the Sudan’s position in the Halayb dispute.
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The Central Council Elections, 1963:
The Government of General Ibrahim Abboud did not formulate a constitution for ruling the Sudan during the six years of his regime. In fact, that government did not even form a committee for writing a draft of a constitution and kept ruling the country under republican orders issued by the high council of the armed forces. The high council, one year after seizure of power by Gen. Abboud, formed a committee under the chairmanship then Chief Justice Mohamed Ahmed Abu Rannat in 1959 to consider participation by the people in ruling the country. That committee proposed the establishment of elected local councils all over the Sudan, provided that the local councils in each one of the nine provinces would elect a council for that province and each council of the nine provinces had to elect six of its members to the Khartoum-based Central Council. In addition to the 54 members who were not elected in direct elections, the Chairman of the High Council would appoint 18 members, raising the membership of the Central Council to 72 members.
However, Gen. Abboud’s Government did not consider the proposals by Chief Justice Abu Rannat’s committee until 1963 when it held the elections and formed the Central Council. Those elections were conducted in all parts of the Sudan, including Halayb region, without any objection by the Egyptian government and the Central Council was set up in 1963.
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The Third Sudanese Parliamentary Elections, 1965:
Seven months after the success of October Revolution in 1964 and the downfall of Gen. Ibrahim Abboud’s regime, the third parliamentary elections In the Sudan’s history were organized in June 1965 and included Halayb region which this time was divided into three constituencies. The result of the elections in the region was as follows:
First: Constituency 176 Atabai was won by Mohamed Osman al-Hajj Titah- the National Unionist Party (NUP)
Second: Constituency 177 Al-Oleeb, was won by Mohamed Karrar Kajur-NUP
Third: Constituency 178 Sidon, was won by Ahmed Ali Abdullah- NUP
The elections were conducted in the three constituencies without exiting any objection or even a remark by Egypt which did not make a reference to the UN Security Council which provided for going back to the situation which prevailed before 29 January 1958 and for discussion by the Sudanese and Egyptian parties of the dispute after the March 1958 elections.
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The Fourth Sudanese Parliamentary Elections, 1968:
The fourth parliamentary elections in Sudan was organized in 1968 in the wake of disbanding the Constituent Assembly in February of that year, with Halayb region having three constituencies as was the case in the 1965 elections and the results were as follows:
First: Constituency 176 Atabai was by Mohamed Osman al-Hajj Titah, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)
Second: Constituency 177 Al-Oleeb won by Mohamed al-Amin al-Tahir, DUP
Third: Constituency 178 Sidon won by Abu al-Nass Ibrahim al-Hindi, DUP
It is to be mentioned that the National Unionist Party (NUP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which won Halayb constituencies in the 1958 and 1965 respectively amalgamated in 1967 as the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
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The Referendum on the Presidency of the Republic:
The referendum on the presidency which Col. Jaafer Nimery won to become the first President of the Republic in Sudan was organized in August 1971, a few months after an abortive coup d’état led by Major Hashim al-Atta. The referendum included Halayb region and Egypt did not make any protest or remarks about it; but a close examination of the events of that period of the Sudan history concludes that then Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat was among those who pushed Nimery to become President of the Sudan. It was obvious that the referendum in Halayb region was, for Sadat, something that did not deserve contemplation as seizure by Col. Nimery of the Presidency in Khartoum was of a high strategic importance for Cairo at that time.
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The Fifth Sudanese Parliamentary Elections, 1986:
The fifth parliamentary elections in Sudan were held in April 1986, a year after the downfall of Marshal Jaafer Nimery. Like the previous elections, the geographic constituencies included Halayb region, but the three previous constituencies (Atabai, Al-Oleeb and Sidon) were made into one constituency named Halayb Constituency 203 and was won by Eissa Ahmed al-Hajj Mohamed of the DUP. It must be added that the re-demarcation of Halayb constituencies used to be made in accordance with the borders of the Amar’ar and Al-Bushareen council which was renamed Halayb Rural Council during Nimery’s regime.
Just like its behavior during the previous Sudanese elections, Cairo kept silent, showing no objection or remarks about inclusion of Halayb region in the geographic constituencies for the fifth Sudanese parliamentary elections in 1986. It kept silent despite the fact that the relations with Khartoum greatly worsened during that year due to refusal by Egypt to extradite to the Sudan the deposed President Jaafer Nimery who took asylum in Cairo after he was toppled in 1985 while he was en route from Washington to Khartoum. Cairo retained silence in spite of renaming the region “Halayb Constituency” for the first time in the history of the Sudanese elections, something which must have dispelled any ambiguity about the implications of conducting the Sudanese elections in this region.
The fifth parliamentary elections of 1986 were the last elections before seizure of power in Khartoum by the National Islamic Front in the June 30, 1989 coup d’état. Egyptian forces then entered and occupied Halayb region in 1992.
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With this presentation it can be concluded that all the Sudanese elections which were conducted during 1953 - 1986 covered Halayb region while no Egyptian elections were organized in the region during that period. And the only attempt by Egypt to conduct a referendum in Halayb in 1958 was unsuccessful and Egypt changed its mind one day before the scheduled date of the referendum after objection by the Sudan with a complaint to the UN Security Council.
However, the situation changed radically in 1992 when the Egyptian forces entered and occupied Halayb in the wake of deterioration of the relations between the Ingaz regime and that of Mubarak. Cairo officially announced annexation of Halayb in 1995 following an abortive attempt on the life of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for which the Ingaz regime was held fully responsible.
Ever since that date, the Sudan has ceased exercising its sovereignty, rights and duties in Halayb region and has remained silent since then.
This is the official government position, and equally the position of the Sudanese opposition parties, towards the situation and developments in Halayb
For these reasons, the National Elections Commission in the Sudan is fully aware that, just like what happened in 2010, it cannot organize elections in Halayb in 2015. The Commission is also fully aware that its statements are made only to gain a media momentum in the face of the broad popular indifference towards the Commission and the elections.
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