SPLM shows weaknesses in three fronts
Editorial, Khartoum Monitor
September 26, 2006 — The SPLM dominated Government of South Sudan (GOSS) is undergoing a very serious test, known or not. It is besieged from all sides. It begins with its own lack of experience in running a government. Everybody knows it is transforming from a guerrilla movement into a conventional political party to be reckoned with at the national level. The SPLM must understand that none of its adversaries is going to sit there with hands folded while it transforms peacefully. If this is what the SPLM believes, it has missed the point. An evolving political party in the Sudan, as it were elsewhere, must always prepare for the worst. It must also aim too high, just to borrow the favourite expression of Dr John Garang, in order to achieve more.
The adversaries are interested, and this is natural, in its failures or weaknesses to capitalize on. There are credible signs to that effect already. The most terrible mistake the SPLM is making is to ignore or underestimate the expertise of the south Sudanese cadres who had all along been in the capital during the war years. These cadres understand the mind of the adversaries as well as their plans. They should have constituted a valuable resource for the growth of the SPLM. This is a serious weakness and it derives from a serious lack of trust.
Another weakness is the unspoken but widely practised nepotism and negative tribalism. The residual consequence from this practice is the group of discontented people who are effectively marginalized. What do we think they would do? This is a welcome group into the beautiful court of the adversaries. They are going to become the next group of useful fools to destroy the CPA.
The other weakness of the SPLM is refusal to come to terms with realities such as failure to attend to urgent developmental issues, suspicion over advice from elders, insensitivity towards strategies for the future and many others. These are valuable cards in the hands of the adversaries. If the adversaries succeed, the victims will be the very marginalized people for whom the SPLM/A waged a war, and struggled for more than a decade. Wake up SPLM!