By Abraham Deng Lueth
December 29, 2013 (SSNA) --The,
hopefully, simmering down political situation in South has a long
history. The aspirations of the people of South Sudan that emerged
during the CPA and referendum times were abused by the leadership.
Instead of building on those, a stern sectarian politics emerged and
time and time again, hatred and greed continue to guide the
institutional and individuals relationships.
The leadership of south Sudan failed to convene its political and social forces to amend the movement vision to suit South Sudan as an independent nation. National vision and shared values were eroded and sectarian visions and values based on hatred and greed arisen. Ministerial positions just become symbols of status to many folks in the government as opposed to delivering the services.
The leadership of south Sudan failed to convene its political and social forces to amend the movement vision to suit South Sudan as an independent nation. National vision and shared values were eroded and sectarian visions and values based on hatred and greed arisen. Ministerial positions just become symbols of status to many folks in the government as opposed to delivering the services.
The
SPLM, since its last convention in 1994 in Chukudum has not sat down
and revised its essential documents to reflect its change from a
guerilla movement to a professional ruling political party. Some
elements within the party have shown their interests in the party
leadership. The SPLM party leadership politics is linked to that of the
nation in the sense that a chairperson of the party is the one who runs
on the party ticket for president in the national elections.
This
situation has caused a crack between the party members in the
government and those outside the government. For sure, there are
interests. The party elements in the government do not want President
Kiir challenged for the post of the party chair. They like to continue
to have him as the party chair; hence, its candidate for president in
the 2015 general elections to give them another round of power in the
post 2015 era. On the other hand, the party elements mainly outside the
government wants democracy to allow those vying for the chairmanship of
the party a chance to challenge President Kiir and hence, giving them a
shot at the presidency comes 2015.
Several
requests for meetings of the political bureau, the SPLM highest
structure, are reported to have been tabled by the then Secretary
General of the party, Pagan Amum, but they were turned down by the
president. After the pressures for the leadership of the party amounted
on the President and his close aides, he started to swirl his powers and
hit everyone he deems opposition to him.
Consequently,
a series of decrees were officiated; private presidential guards
(believed to have hailed from the President’s regional states) were
recruited and trained without the knowledge of relevant military
leaders, some elected governors gone, the entire cabinet gone, the
entire SPLM party structures gone, requested meeting for the political
bureau, denied, NLC meeting called without consultation from the
political bureau and there were more threats only decrees away.
December 6 Press Conference
As
a result, a team of SPLM high ranking officials, headed by Dr. Riek
machar called a press conference to explain to the party members their
unaddressed grievances. This team also scheduled a public rally on
December 14 to do the same to the members of the public. The rally was
later canceled to give room for dialogue after the spiritual leaders
urged both sides to resolve their political differences internally
through dialogue. Among the group, 3 individuals, namely; Mama Nyandeeng, Pagan Amum and Dr. Riek Machar were
vying to challenge president Kiir for the party chairmanship. The group
was united to fight the dictatorship tendencies within the party which
normally spillover into the national affairs time and time again (e.g.
firing of elected governors). Many had hoped that something positive was
going to come out of the vice President’s press conference on Monday. Nevertheless, hate speeches and nicknaming of the dissident voices group were what came out of the press conference.
The
group had hoped that canceling their rally to give room for dialogue
would also necessitate the president to cancel the NLC meeting so that a
meeting for the political bureau was
convened and the differences would be worked out and agenda items for
the NLC meeting would be set. However, to no avail, this opportunity to
resolve the outstanding issues was also ignored and the NLC scheduled
meeting continued.
The
dissident voices group gave dialogue another chance and attended the
meeting, hoping that the outstanding differences will be given a
consideration but again, none was considered. Instead, the president, a
leader of the party and the nation, came out intimidating and was
rubbing on past historic wounds within the party such as 1991 Bor
massacre. This rigidity of the President and his close aides to open up
to addressing fierce political differences caused the dissident voices
group to boycott the NLC meeting on its last day.
December 15 Sunday Presidential Guards Incident
The darkest days of South Sudan since its independence began on Sunday, December 15. A fight broke out within the PRESIDENTIAL GUARDS.
The causes (s) of this incident are storied differently and none is yet
confirmed as the reliable cause because there has not been an
investigation into the incident so far or at least that is known by the
public. On December 16, the president was seen in military uniform on SSTV, flanked by some cabinet members, addressing the nation that what occurred on Sunday
night was “a failed coup.” Dr. Riek was accused for the coup and,
interestingly, arrest orders were also issued for other linked
politicians to the “coup” who turned out to be members of the dissident
voices group with no connection to the presidential guards or the army,
whatsoever.
Dr.
Riek has come out and denied the coup and claimed that President Kiir
took advantage of the incident that happened within his own presidential
guards and used it to deter or eliminate the opposition. There has not
been a strong proof that the alleged coup d’état (which the world would
not recognize) was, indeed, an attempted coup. That leaves the public to
wonder about what is going on. Is it a poor judgment in differentiating
between a mutiny and a coup or is it a pure calculated politics based
on ill-hatred of fellow citizens and obsessive greed for power?
Dialogue and Negotiation Process
Regardless
of the fact that the public seems to remain divided on who to blame for
the crisis and process differently the potential conditions leading to
the conflict, it is apparent that it is opposed to the unwarranted
violence and would like a peaceful way of addressing political
differences. Therefore, in a rare circumstance, allow me (member of the
public) to say thank you to both warring factions for agreeing to sit
down and talk.
Moreover,
it should also be noted that the crisis has taken different forms over
time and in the process, has created slightly differentiated but
substantially linked cohorts. It is important to understand how those
slightly differentiated groups developed and how they still link to the
main issue that brought our country here. In my own view, I think it
will be necessary to approach the dialogue in two phases.
A. Solving Political Differences Through Political Dialogues
Phase one should focus on the political differences within
the SPLM party and the SPLM national policies because as a ruling
party, its policies influence how the affairs of the nation are run.
Therefore, it is critical to address political differences within the
party and the party national policies under this phase of negotiation.
This is where Dr. Riek and the detained politicians are one group.
Therefore, in this context, yes, Pagan or any other member or members of
the detained group may part-take in the negotiation process. Therefore,
Dr. Riek is not wrong to appoint Pagan if he is thinking in this
context and Pagan, on the other hand, is not wrong to accept the
appointment if he is sticking to his December 6 conference allegiance.
B. Reconciling The Warring Factions: Kiir vs. Riek (Dinka vs. Nuer)
The
second phase should focus on the violence that began on Sunday,
December 15 and its effects. This phase should cover President Kiir
unconfirmed coup accusation, risking the lives of Dr. Riek, other
accused politicians and the killing of innocent citizens in Juba. It
should be noted that the killing in Juba fitted the Nuers against the
Dinkas more than the coup accusation itself.
On
the other hand, this phase will also focus Dr. Riek and the killings in
Bor, Akobo, Bentiu and Malakal. President Kiir has an indirect
responsibility for the killings in those other towns because the killing
in Juba catalyzed the actions of the Nuers against Dinkas in those
towns. The main goal here should be to give the two leaders a chance to
reflect back on their actions and how they could have contributed to the
unwarranted crisis that caused several losses of lives and resulted in
several war crime accounts. When that is done, it is when the two will
see a dire need to reconcile and move on.
Most
of the talks under this phase should be between Kiir and Riek. If they
want to use other people to represent them, they should pick people from
their warring sides. For example, Dr. Riek can appoint either Gatdet or
any of the people fighting with him now because they are the ones who
can answer why they killed people. Kiir, on the other hand, should
appoint someone within his inner circle to explain why they were rigid
to changes and eventually, rushing to calling what happened on Sunday
an “attempted coup.” Moreover, they should be the one to answer why
they ordered the presidential guards to kill innocent civilians in Juba
who may not have any clue about politics.
Last but not least, the three parties (warring factions, Kiir & Riek, and the accused politicians)
affiliated with the crisis should converge here as well and
collectively reconcile. The detained politicians should help mediate
both sides. Their contribution, especially, at this point will be a key
catalyze for the reconciliation between the two leaders and the affected
ethnic groups of Nuers and Dinkas. The two leaders must first reconcile
before the reconciliation of the Nuers and the Dinkas, followed by a
national healing process if a meaningful and comprehensive peace can be
achieved in the country.
Matters
pertaining to the security of Riek, members of his forces and the
accused politicians must be negotiated and it will not surprise me if
power-sharing becomes the solution. Therefore, continuation of talks to
involve the detained politicians is necessary regardless of the fact
that they are not affiliated with the war. Pagan Amum can continue as one of the chief negotiators but Dr. Riek will need to appoint other co-chief negotiator (either directly or indirectly involved in the war) to sit alongside with Pagan to answer questions regarding the war.
Power-Sharing between the warring factions
So,
yes, a power-sharing may not be a bad idea given the fact that the
president has continuously shown his inability to lead with the nation
interest in the center and continuously misuse his presidential powers.
It will also be the best way to guarantee trust and security between the
warring factions, including the detained politicians. Power-sharing
will create enabling, safe ethnic and political environments that will
be necessary to move the nation forward.
The
power-sharing resolution should have a life span, ranging from when the
negotiation deal is sealed until next election when the nation will
elect its next leader. Both President Kiir and Dr. Riek should lead the
country during the power-sharing period and must not run for election in
2015 in order to forgo the war crimes. Otherwise, if they choose to
take part in the leadership and still run in 2015, they must be
investigated for the war crimes committed over the last 2 weeks.
The Resolutions of the Political Dialogues
The resolutions of the political dialogue should ensure the following:
I. Provide comprehensive solutions to the SPLM party political processes relative to the nation political processes, hence, reconciling the party ranks;
II. Reconcile President Kiir and Dr. Riek while acknowledging where each of the two leaders could have prevented the crisis (power-sharing should be obvious);
III. Reconcile the Nuers and the Dinkas to bridge the ethnic gap created by the conflict;
IV. Provide national healing because the current conflict has affected every South Sudanese in a very profound way.
Abraham Deng Lueth is
a Community Support Specialist at Truman Behavioral health Emergency
Department in Kansas City, Missouri, United States; he is the President
of Greater Bor Community-USA. He previously worked as a critical care
laboratory technician and conducted an independent undergraduate
biomedical research project which was published in the Plant Science Journal in 2007.
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