A/HRC/18/40 B. Southern Kordofan 31. Southern Kordofan is a border State between North and southern Sudan. It is populated largely by the Nuba, the Hawazma and Misseriya nomadic Arab tribes. Since the end of the war, many of the Nuba have become strong supporters of the SPLA. 32. Under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Southern Kordofan and neighbouring Blue Nile States were expected to hold popular consultations to determine whether the Agreement had met the aspirations of their citizens and to resolve any outstanding issues related to its implementation. The popular consultation did not accommodate a right to selfdetermination for the two States. Rather, it offered the local communities the opportunity to address their grievances and expectations for which they had taken up arms against the the Government of the Sudan and which had not been met by the Agreement. The two States will remain part of the Sudan regardless of the consultation’s outcome, but they may retain some autonomy. The Agreement left the popular consultation process relatively vague, both in terms of content and of the processes to be used to guarantee the implementation of outcomes. The popular consultation process was delayed in Southern Kordofan to allow the conduct of State elections, which were not held during the 2010 nationwide elections owing to disputes between the Agreement partners over census figures. 33. The Southern Kordofan gubernatorial and legislative elections were finally held from 2 to 4 May 2011. Despite the tensions preceding the elections, the polling was generally peaceful and was deemed credible by the Carter Center Observer Mission, the only foreign organization to monitor the elections. However, on 10 May, prior to the announcement of the results, the SPLM withdrew from the elections, citing irregularities and alleging that the elections had been rigged. The final results announced by the National Elections Commission on 15 May showed a narrow victory for the incumbent State Governor, Ahmed Haroun. 13