In its last meeting in Juba the SPLM Interim Political Bureau (IPB) resolved on the 11th instant that its ministers in the Government of National Unity (GONU) will have to stay at home until the reshuffle of the SPLM ministers in the GONU is effected. The implications of such a decision are very serious and cannot be left to the SPLM alone. The Southerners of all walks of life must debate this development very candidly so that we are not dragged into a situation which was not foreseen.
The
ignition of the 1955 civil war and the massacres of Southerners in
Khartoum in December 1965 and again in August 2007 are painful
incidents from which we should learn the correct lessons. Politically,
there is nothing like staying out of work for ministers. They are
either exercising their normal duties in Government or the SPLM pulls
out of it.
Pulling
out of government means dissolving the coalition government, in this
case the partnership between the SPLM and the National Congress Party
(NCP), and therefore the breakdown of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA). Is the South prepared for that serious step now especially on an
insignificant issue such as the reshuffle within the ministers of the
SPLM in GONU?
In
practical terms, pulling of the SPLM out of the GONU means that all the
SPLM ministers including the First Vice President have to resign from
the GONU. The First Vice President is the Chairman of the SPLM and
there is no way that the ministers of his party leave a government he
continues to be a member of. This should be clearly understood. If the
SPLM pulls out of the CPA, there can be only two options at its
disposal: either it goes back to war straight or the South makes a
unilateral declaration of independence (UDI). The second option cannot
be accepted by the Government in Khartoum because it would be an
illegal move and like any rebellion the sovereign government has a
responsibility to subdue it, in addition, of course, to the attendant
complications of international law in this respect. All these options
require mobilization of manpower, resources and international opinion.
None of this the SPLM has done. Right now, the Southern public is not
clear what the quarrel is all about. The SPLA remains not prepared for
any eventuality, least of all war. In fact the utterances of the SPLM
leaders rule out war whereas the end result of such decisions can be
war. Who knew at that time that the killing of a duke in Sarajievo in
the last century could have led to the Second World War? When the
political atmosphere is highly charged it can be ignited by the
slightest action. This is why the political leaders must be very
careful about what they say and do.
What
is worse is that the SPLM leaders are misleading public opinion about
the exact content of the resolution in Juba. Some say that the SPLM
ministers will resume their work as soon as the reshuffle is effected
and some, ashamed of trivializing the issue, said that the boycott of
work by the SPLM ministers will not be lifted until all the outstanding
issues in the CPA are resolved!! This means that the SPLM will not
rejoin GONU until Abyei problem, redeployment of the army, demarcation
of the borders, etc. are resolved. If that be the case, who will
implement all those aspects of the CPA?
The public should not be misled about the SPLM resolution. The resolution comes under section 7 which reads as follows, quote: 7. Those acts and practices gave rise to the impression that the NCP was testing the patience of the SPLM and its leadership. And if the SPLM did not act sooner in the last two years, it has done so because of its desire to give peace a chance. But there is a limit to such patience.Now, therefore, the SPLM Interim Political Bureau in its meeting in Juba on 4th- 11th October 2007 resolves:i. To
call on the leadership of the NCP to take immediate steps towards full
implementation of the CPA within an agreed upon time frame, but not
later than 9th January 2008.ii. To
further call upon the NCP Leadership to address the SPLM concerns
referred to above, including the rectification of the damage caused by
gross violations to the INC and CPA in order to put an end to the
current undesired stalemate and avert further deterioration of the
present situation which threatens the survival of the partnership.iii. To recall all SPLM Presidential Advisors, Ministers and State Ministers in the Government of National Unity (GONU).iv. To
call upon the President of the Republic to take action on the
recommendations of the SPLM Chairman regarding the reshuffle of the
SPLM component in the Government of National Unity (GoNU) in order to
avoid further action that may lead to the paralysis of GoNU.
End of quote.
From the above quotation the following facts are very clear:
- The
issues raised in the resolution in connection with the implementation
of the CPA are covered by sub-sections (i) and (ii). Sub-section (i)
states that steps towards the implementation of the CPA be taken on or
before the 9th of January 2008.
- The
recall of SPLM Presidential Advisors, Ministers and State Ministers in
the GoNU will only be lifted if "the President of the Republic takes
action on the recommendations of the SPLM Chairman regarding the
reshuffle of the SPLM component in the Government of National Unity".
Put another way, if the President of the Republic carries out the
required reshuffle today, the SPLM Presidential Advisors, Ministers and
State Ministers will go back to work immediately. This is the correct
interpretation of the resolution. The SPLM leaders should stop fooling
the public and come out clean on this matter.
James Andrew Agany
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