Security Desk - NCP’s driving a wedge between SPLM and its constituents
Pennsylvania, U.S.A - Recent controversy over SPLM’s decision to suspend the census until the party’s concerns have been addressed has sparked a rather strong reaction from the NCP and a number of Sudanese (southerners and northerners alike). The NCP had the nerves to say that the Movement was indeed jeopardizing the CPA by suspending the census process while forgetting that the situation got to this stage because of its failure to listen to the SPLM.
From reading various opinions and columns, one theme was particularly unsettling and borderline absurd: That is the SPLM as a party is failing the South and risking the life of CPA.
What these individuals fail to understand is that the Movement wants the census conducted in a manner that will assure Sudanese of the credibility of data. Instead of taking SPLM viewpoints into considerations and making sure that southerners displaced to north are back to their home districts, the NCP went ahead full-throttle with process. The NCP is actually trying to derail the census process before it starts or at least render the results useless or favorable to its long term political strategy. As the census date approaches, we have witnessed spike in insecurity along the border and Abyei area in particular. With blessing from the NCP security heads, the tribal militias and even some covert elements of the SAF have sealed roads used by returnees and according to reports, they are harassing and even holding some returnees hostage. These despicable actions are aimed at instilling fear in the mind of people.
The NCP is to blame for failure to conduct a credible and transparent census. By depriving the census process of necessary funding, the NCP is clearly not interested in the outcome of this census. To the surprise of many, the SPLM retreated from its earlier declaration after meeting stiff resistant from the NCP. It correctly concluded that the entire census process is not being conducted in a manner consistent with credible censuses elsewhere. What NCP calls a census is a sham. The NCP is putting on its best face in the public to portray the Movement as a dysfunctional partner with no clear vision for running the country. And as the NCP expected, it found some shortsighted southerners sympathetic to its view that the SPLM does not represent the real aspirations of the majority of southerners and Sudan for that matter.
Interestingly enough, the northerners are increasingly critical of SPLM and its perceived ‘failure’ to deliver development to South. This is hypocrisy at its best because the NCP and traditional sectarian parties failed to deliver development to North even though it was never affected by war in the same proportion as South was. The SPLM is faced with having to reconstruct a region that has been a subject of neglect by successive regimes in north (both democratic and military). On top of that, they did not just neglect south, they actively destroyed its physical and social fabric in order to facilitate hegemony and depredation. When I read these self-proclaimed guardians of southern interest level criticism at SPLM for its near term shortcomings, I find it comical. Hassan al-Turabi has had his best political tricks deployed against him by his younger students and now he has the nerves to criticize SPLM? Give me a break.
In all seriousness, the NCP is trying to drive a wedge between the SPLM and its constituents. It is that simple. It failed (at least for now) to destabilize the Movement when the SPLM actively purged its agents. Now it is taking its case to the Sudanese people by convincing them that the SPLM leadership is only interested in “self-preservation” and not national agenda. Who are they kidding here? It is the NCP that has done everything it can possibly do to break the social fabric of the nation by using its ‘Arabs’ against their countrymen. It has created a democratic space that is hostile to any opposition group, developed a highly efficient autocracy that is making only those in power rich and those outside are either shut out or enticed to join the plundering. No wonder some southerners with self-interest at heart threw revolutionary zeal out of the window and found it irresistible to remain at the margin. They were not only bribed and bought but also instructed to use their influence within the Movement’s hierarchy to tear it down. If successful, it would have reduced the Movement into a third appendage for the NCP and doom south to perpetual marginalization.
To be even-handed, the SPLM has had a few problems with transitioning into a formidable partner. This has emboldened the NCP to the point that it is now tempted to veto decisions that the Movement reaches. It is Addis Ababa Peace agreement déjà vu again. If al-Bashir discovers that he can actually force Kiir to retract party’s decision; that would give him the necessary cover to shoot down any future bold decisions. My humble advice to the Movement is that: make decisions and stand by them no matter what amount of pressure is brought to bear. Giving conflicting signals to the Sudanese people and southerners in particular is a sure way to lose credibility. On top of that, your opponent will find it hard to take your position seriously.
To avoid future mishaps, it is imperative that president Kiir make his intentions crystal clear at the presidency meetings. If the presidency vetoes his recommendations without any compelling reason, he can then share his concerns with the Movement and proceed to make his recommendations public and without any retraction. Alternatively, he can discuss upcoming topics at the presidency with the Movement’s leadership and get various views. With recommendations from the Movement, he can go to the presidency meeting and convey his party’s stand on a particular issue and let them know that represents his stand. After deliberations at the presidency, he can then instruct the Movement spokesperson to inform the public of the decision reached. That way, there are no surprises or retractions as these acts only serve to support the NCP’s claim that the Movement is weak and probably internally unstable.
Census fiasco has been particularly instructive of Movement’s internal deliberations mechanism. It has also taught the Movement a good lesson that can serve to lessen future problems. For me I tend to take the optimistic view that SPLM will reorganize how it reaches decision and who is best suited to announce its policy positions to the public. We should not allow ourselves to be swayed by the NCP into believing that there is a fundamental problem with the way the SPLM conducts its affairs, nor should we believe that the northerners have our best interest at heart. It is a strategy aimed at pitting the constituents against the party that best represents their aspirations.
*Mariar Wuoi writes a column with New Sudan Vision, tagged Security Desk. He is a B.S. Energy and Environmental Economics, Geographic Information Systems student at Penn State University, U.S.A. He can be reached at mariar_jon@hotmail.com.
