Sudan’s government of national disunity and inequality
By Awolich de Nyuat
Sept 21, 2005 — The most awaited Government of National Unity was finally announced on Tuesday by the president of the republic. We the Southerners have waited anxiously for the greatest test of the Sudanese unity through the formation and the composition of the Government of National Unity. It was clear for all the Southerners that the government was not ready to accept equality of power and wealth sharing. This was indicated by main obstacle which the two parties encountered in the process of the formation of the government of national unity. It is now clear that the National Islamic Front is not serious in their commitment to make unity attractive to the people of the South Sudan in fact all the marginalized people of the Sudan. They are trying to clink to power by controlling the means and the ways which could bring about the reconciliation and finally peace and unity. The bad faith shown so far by the government of Omar EL Bashir is indicative of the future of the Sudan that could lead to the break down of the country. It is unfortunate but that is the reality of the current situation in Sudan.
When I read the names of the ministers and the ministries awarded to the people of the South Sudan, one thing was clear, that our brothers in the North are not interested whatsoever in the unity of our country because they still carry the old memories of mistreating the Southerners. This time, guess what, we are leaving for good. Unity could still be safe only and only if we are treated as equal members of the Sudan Nation and treated with dignity and awarded equal power and economic benefits. To borrow the quote of our late leader Dr. John Garang “why would you vote yourself to become a second class citizen when you can be a master of your own house.” That is very true why would we vote for unity when it has no social, economic, political, or spiritual benefit whatsoever. As has been shown through the formation and the composition of the government of national unity, there is premeditated unwillingness from the NCP to share power or wealth . This is a very good reason for us to a stage a campaign for secession of the South. It got to be clear that unity must be made attractive and it has not been seen so far leave alone whether it is attractive or not, its existence has got to be proven with difficulty if any.
I can say that the announcement of the Government of National Inequality yesterday was in fact the beginning of the formation of national disintegration process. With peace underway in Darfur, how are the rebels suppose to accept to sign an agreement when they know clearly that the power sharing and the wealth sharing stipulated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) were in fact deceptions not realistic. How can you say you share the power when you control all the means that nurture power? There is no power sharing in this current government there is only inequality propagation if not massive deception of the masses of the Sudan.
What power does the SPLA have in the parliament? 28% cannot pass a legislation neither can they oppose a legislation and that in fact is a problem. In the real sense of the coalition government, there has to be checks and balances. I am not saying that there should be 50% members of parliament from the SPLA because that would be unrealistic of the demographic nature of the Sudan, but I am saying that there should be a guarantee to protect the right of minority group which is part of the government.
For the presidency, well the first vice president supposedly has equal amount of powers as the president but what assurance is there that the consultations stipulated in the CPA would be followed strictly? There are no such assurances and president Bashir could do all he wants given that no strict law is in place. The CPA now has been violated a month into the interim period so there is no guarantee that it will be respected two to three years from now. Therefore leaving Lt. General Salva Kiir only a single individual in the presidency flanked by Ali Osman and president Bashir who may conspire against him at their will. This is not to incite any conflict in the presidency but the NCP has not earn enough credit to be trusted by a common citizen like myself. President Bashir has to do something extraordinary to be able to win the hearts of those people whom his policies terrified and destroyed. The only person that is fit to improve the image of NIF/NCP got be the president himself and he has not done anything so far to indicate that. All we know is that the president wants absolute power, absolute wealth for the north strictly and subordination of fellow Southerners wouldn’t bother him much either.
With no direct economic control General Kiir Mayardit’s power becomes nothing less than a mere awarded non existent power. This is the calculation of the government of Bashir: That the government would act as if there is a power sharing but in reality nothing has change. Still it is the NIF that is in command and control and the incorporation of few members from the SPLM would shift the attention of the international community away and the Southerners would forget about seceding in 6year. And that the government would continue to use the resources in the South to develop the north. And that the political rivalry would subside. The problem with this calculation is the fact that General Mayardit has a full support of Southerners and that when things are not going the way we expect, we can just excuse the government in Khartoum to seize full control of the power as they wish. Meanwhile the Southerners will start building barricade walls around the oil wells to keep Bashir and his power thirst cronies away. And withdraw General Mayardit from the GNU to become only a president of the republic of new Sudan in the South. How about that? Even after 49 years of war between the North and the South, the government in the North still has no respect for the Southerners. This needs serious long term answer because the government is in fact not interested in us as the people but our resources. They like to tap our resources in exchange for humiliation and harassments for half a century. Now, we have to make it clear that we either the government of Khartoum accept genuinely to share the real power and wealth or start exploring Sahara Desert for some oils because the oil wells in the South will soon belong to their rightful owners period.
Who can say a new government has been formed? I personally would say there is no such thing as the government of national unity, it is misleading to call it honorably like that. Its correct name is the government of national disunity and national inequality that has been formed. This is because the government controls all the ministries of wealth and power. There is no such thing as the government of national unity formed it is a mere lie. If there was a government of national unity formed, the people in the South should have been given the ministry of energy or finance or interior. If the NCP took defense, the SPLA should take interior, if NCP took finance, SPLA should take mining and energy and so on. The expectation of the Southerners is not met whatsoever. The power has not been shared fairly and the wealth in fact belongs to the NCP 100%. I am struggling with myself here what I should do in this case. If I accept the government that has been recently formed, it does not reflect the interest of our people, if one refuses to accept it, one remains without a government. May be what we need to do as Southerners is invest in the government of the South Sudan as the only government we have while waiting for the disintegration of the country peacefully in 6 years. We can put up with that inequality for six years but not the way it has started now that I had hoped.
I just wanted to remind our leadership in the SPLM that political concessions are good but they have to be valid. Whether it was an international community pressure or just a good will from the movement, there couldn’t be any convincing reason to give up all the powerful ministries to the NCP particularly the ministry of energy and mining and finance. We have entrusted you this responsibility to do our will and we are 100% behind you. All we need from you is do what it takes to protect our interest as common citizens. We should not become victims of our good faith when the other party every now and then shown a bad faith.
If concessions were made based on the pressure from the international community, why was the pressure on the SPLM and not the NCP? What if they put the pressure on us to vote for unity under this extreme inequality and indignity, would we go by pressure or the true feelings of our people? When the peace agreement was signed, the SPLA forces were not defeated in the battle field, it was a good will and in the interest of the Sudanese people to live in peace as equal citizens with equal opportunities we accept peaceful settlement. However, to quote from the animal farm “some people are more equal than others in Sudan” Likewise, some parties are more equal than others and that is not fair neither is it unifying. Instead, it is unfair, dissatisfying, and unattractive. It turns out that the CPA is being misinterpreted and miss used by the other party to the contrary and that is worrying and it should be worrying.
Remember in the CPA it says unity should be voluntary and made attractive to the people in the South not the other way. We should not make ourselves attractive to be mistreated and undermine, that is not in the CPA nor is it in the interim national constitution. I know you in the SPLM leadership are working hard and are doing a great job so far but we got to satisfied as common citizens. If I am not lying, most Southerners are not happy with the concessions made in the formation of the government of national unity. That is not to say that we will not support you. We will continue our support as long as the movement stands for us and for our interest in general.
Finally, where do we go from here given that we in the south are dissatisfied, suspicious, and demanding some action from the government. The way forward in fact is the CPA which spells out everything in detail. We must now start working not on decrees but on concrete rule of law respecting every right of every citizen. I believe that we the people in the South still have given the government a chance to continue to improve its image. Atleast we have a new government in place, at least there is some representation and at least there is skewed power and wealth sharing. So we must work hard to see that the government works for the people and only in the interest of the people. Meanwhile, we have to stage another checking point at the coming elections in three years to see if people in Khartoum have changed and whether there will ever be a reason on the way for people in the South to feel fairly treated. So I accept that there is a government in place which I can call my government because the SPLM is now part of it therefore, I am definitely part of it. How long I will be part of this government is what I really don’t know. It is a wait and see phenomenon which needs time and experience.
What I do not want to see happening though is to have our leaders in power at the mercy of the other party. We do not want to be part of the government in which our economic conditions depend on the goodwill of the other party. There has to be a formula in place that will allow our leadership to access resources and power without a question of whether the other party wants it or not. What I am driving home here is that the government of national unity should start to behave as if its members are equal individuals with equal powers and equal citizenship regardless of whether they are members of either party or on the basis of any discriminatory procedure or phrase. No one party should depend on the good will of the other party period. If this is not true, then I can see this as an obstacle which may cause me and others to believe that the new government is not for national unity but rather, it is a Government of National Disunity and inequality. Through the formation of the this government has anything between made attractive so far in the eyes of the Southerners? I don’t believe it will ever be.
With more come stay tuned……….
* Awolich de Nyuat, Student at the University of Vrmont, USA