ABSTRACT
The Self-Government Statute had provided for direct elections in at least thirty-five constituencies, the commission, in accordance with a principle enunciated in the agreement between the political parties and the Egyptians, raised the number to sixty-eight. The Anglo-Egyptian agreement of 1936, however, and especially the rise of Sudanese nationalism during the war, once again brought the sovereignty issue to the fore, at a time when Britain's independence of action was limited. Under the terms of that agreement a Sudanization Committee was established by Isma'il al-Azhari's government in February 1954 with the aim of completing the transfer of the administration to Sudanese hands as soon as possible, 'to provide the free and iieutral atmosphere requisite for Self-Determination'. The political decision taken at the time of the Juba Conference, that the south was 'inextricably bound' to the north, seemed, with Sudanization, to be confirmed as the British abandonment feared by southern leaders.
