Sudan’s Darfur Referendum Commission (DRC) said it will announce the result of the recent referendum on the region’s administrative status at Friendship Hall in the capital Khartoum on Saturday afternoon.

The recently concluded vote should determine whether the area should go back to being one region as it was until 1994 or retain the status quo states system.

In a meeting held Wednesday, the commission confirmed its readiness to release the Darfur’s administrative referendum result by Saturday at around 2:00 pm.

Meanwhile, Saleh Mahmoud, a renowned rights defender from Darfur, criticized the Darfur administrative referendum, saying it does reflect the will of the people of the Darfur region.

Mahmoud, who also member of the Central Committee of the Sudanese Community Party, told Radio Tamazuj in interview on Sudan in a weekly programme that the referendum was rejected by Darfur citizens and other Sudanese people as well as opposition groups.

He pointed out that the Darfur referendum is not a priority during military escalation and massive displacement of residents in Jebel Marra area. Mahmoud accused the Khartoum government of seeking to dismantle the unity of Darfur people.

The result of the Darfur referendum is known in advance to all Sudanese people, according to the rights defender. He added that the government will announce the status quo states system on Saturday. The opposition party member stressed that the people of Darfur will not recognise that result.