SPLM leadership meeting is a good step

Editorial, the Khartoum Monitor

April 7, 2006 — The fruits of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement’s (SPLM) recent leadership council meeting in Rumbek have begun to emerge. The SPLM has named Commander Pagan Amoum as its official spokesman.

This is a good and commendable step. Periodic appraisals and reformation within the ranks and files of the SPLM should continue. Until recently, the SPLM’s visibility in the press has been characterised by individualism rather than institutionalism. For many SPLM observers this has been very absurd. The SPLM, prior to signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), had been commanding an efficient and effective information and public relations apparatus. It spoke with one voice, so strong and loud.

In the post-peace era, the SPLM emerged as an organisation in which every party member enjoys the liberty of going public to explain delicate political issues from a personal perspective. This new trend has done harm to the image of the party. The SPLM appeared both an inconsistent and incoherent organisation.

The next step awaiting Pagan Amoum is the setting up of an office that would meet the ever increasing information demands of the media, the press and the public at large. The party should provide him with all facilities needed in terms of manpower, equipment and logistical capabilities in order to keep him in touch and informed about SPLM-related developments throughout the country. If the office is aptly set up, the SPLM would retrieve its golden information era and display a more vigorous public visibility and presence.

Having said this, might we know when the SPLM’s official spokesman would hold his first press conference? At this turn, could the Khartoum Monitor raise a question in advance? What is the official position of the SPLM with regard to NCP’s intransigence over implementation of the protocol on Abyei? Assuming Abyei has been discussed as a priority issue in the recent Rumbek leadership council meeting.