South Sudanese communists position on the current crisis
The Communist Party of South Sudan
Position of the Communist Party on the Current Situation in the Country
In July 2013, when the President of the Republic dissolved his entire cabinet and removed his Vice-President , we in Communist Party described this, in a public statement, as a further step in a series of power struggle moves within the ruling party and pointed out that this struggle was far removed from solving the post independence problems like poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, disease, and the degradation of living standards. It is focused on who should rule the country and for how long.
The appointments to positions of authority have become the main source of quick accumulation of wealth and enrichment through high salaries and unlimited privileges and services. The interests of the parasitic capitalism and the bureaucracy in government have joined hands in robbing the state. In that statement, we stressed that the power struggle opened the way for all probabilities, including the resort to violence and pointed out that the solution was in the formation of a national government with the participation of all political parties agreeing on a minimal plan of action. The political differences would be left to the public to settle in the forthcoming elections
Recent occurrences of December 15th are a further escalation of the power struggle through mutiny of soldiers essentially aiming to acquire power using military force.
This time, the struggle takes place against the background of a ruling party, the SPLM, that has failed to run the affairs of the country.
To depict the events as reform driven or correcting the situation in South Sudan is false.
Both wings of the SPLM have failed and its warring factions bear the responsibility for the crisis and the deterioration of the situation now being experienced by the people of South Sudan.
The ethnic background of the formation of the SPLA from the two major ethnicities and especially within the Republican Guards and not on national basis, is one of the reasons behind the current crisis in the country. In spite of the absorption of most of the militias in the ranks of the SPLA, each militia maintained its former structure and its leadership within the SPLA. Every side in the conflict resorted first and foremost to its militias and the sons of its ethnicities. Despite the ongoing attempts to distort the facts, it is true and cannot be denied, that the conflict has descended into a sharp ethnic conflict.
The damages are exorbitant and the military machinery is still destroying thousands of lives mercilessly and without remorse. When the elephants fight, it is the grass which suffers. Mass graves are spreading in many parts of the country. The common man has lost his security and stability and has become a refugee in his own country, exposed to death, disease and hunger. The repercussions of the current war will lead to dangerous events threatening the social fabric and creating a spirit of enemity among the main ethnicities in the country. Its continuation could lead to the cessation of petroleum production and the prolongation of austerity measures which have been a burden on the living standards
The Solution to the Crisis
We in the Communist Party start from the premises of our Party unwavering position which calls for non-violence in the resolution of political differences. We therefore condemn in the sharpest tone, the current bloody events and condemn all who directly or indirectly planned the turmoil and call for the presentation of all who committed crimes against humanity to appear before International Justice.
We commend the steps of the Security Council in reinforcing its military forces in the country to cement security and stability so as not to allow the situation to deteriorate into a full blown civil war and transform South Sudan into another Rwanda.
We also applaud the efforts of IGAD in bringing the conflicting parties to the negotiations table and call on the government to take the initiative from its position of strength in creating the necessary conducive environment for the talks:
– Release of the detainees
– Announce the immediate cease fire without any preconditions from both sides.
We demand the presentation of the final agreement to all parties for them to give their opinion in the same way as it has to be presented to the National Legislative Assembly for approval. We believe that the issue is no longer a conflict within the SPLM but a national issue.
We in the Communist Party reject the reinstitution of SPLM hegemony over national issues as it was before the breakout of the war. It s true that the SPLM achieved peace and independence, but has pulled the country into the crisis through their internal differences and the inability to face the vital problems of the people.
It is imperative for the SPLM to admit the grevious mistakes and appologise to the people of South Sudan
The form of the next government should be different and should represent all the political forces in the forthcoming government. We in the Communist Party call all parties to deepen the spirit of peaceful resolution of conflict within all parts of society and within communities and resort democratically to the will of its citizens.
The Communist Party of South Sudan calls for a national frame to be adopted in the re-organisation and recruitment of the South Sudan Army.
Central Secretariat
Communist Party of South Sudan
Contacts: 0904726362; 0956078743
Juba
28.12.2013