Obama’s Celebration: A political and diplomatic blunder
By Lasu Lolosowa
November 30, 2008 — News has it that the SPLM Secretariat had made arrangements to celebrate President (elect) Obama’s election victory on Saturday in Khartoum. Invitations were sent out to SPLM members and friends of the Movement to attend the celebration at the SPLM Headquarters in the capital.
What has not been made clear, however, is the rationale for this celebration. Is it grounded on the belief that Obama is of an African extraction, hence the need to give him support and solidarity in the spirit of African fraternity? Or is it intended to establish some political and diplomatic ties with Obama’s administration? Or is it simply meant to send a message to the SPLM’s partners in the government of national unity (GONU), the National Congress Party (NCP) alias National Islamic Front (NIF), that the SPLM now has a friend and an ally in the Oval Office, an ally who will come to our rescue if and when the NCP tries to misbehave. Which is which? Or is it all of these plus other reasons which are only known to the members of the SPLM Secretariat.
Another nagging issue is whether or not this celebration is being organized with consultation and the agreement of the SPLM Political Bureau or the SPLM National Liberation Council. This is certainly a major decision which has political and diplomatic implications and cannot, in anyway, be taken unilaterally by the Movement’s Secretariat. No wonder that of recent, concerns have been voiced by members of these loft intuitions of the SPLM and indeed the ordinary membership of the Movement to the effect that the Secretariat has adopted a tendency to operate as an island unto itself. It has even been said that the Secretariat has often times made decisions or statements with no regard to the higher organs of the SPLM leave alone the Chairman of the party and indeed its general membership. This is not how a credible and reputable political organization should operate: the SPLM Secretariat should know its limits or they will have to be made to know.
Whatever the reason or the motive is I think that the decision of our SPLM Secretariat to celebrate Obama’s victory in Khartoum, Sudan, is wrong, inappropriate and misplaced for several reasons:
1. Obama’s victory belongs to the American people, both black and white, for it is through their desire for genuine change that they worked and brought him to power. The rest of us who are non Americans can only share in this victory by sending Obama messages of support and best wishes in his new role as President of the most powerful nation in the world. Our, President and Chairman of the SPLM, General Salva Kiir has precisely done this. President Kiir even went further to declare a one day holiday in South Sudan in honor of Obama’s landslide victory in the USA elections for the White House. Quantified in terms of monetary value, one day’s holiday is a lot of money, especially for a poor region like South Sudan. And I want to believe that President-elect Obama must be happy, satisfied and grateful for this support from his “distant cousins” in South Sudan. What remains now is for President Salva Kiir to follow up this gesture of goodwill and friendship with a personal visit to the United States. So, this celebration which is being organized in Khartoum for our “brother” Obama is unnecessary and another waste of energy and resources, which energy and resources should rightly be used for building and strengthening the structures of the SPLM, considering that we will soon be going for our own national elections in the Sudan.
2. Throwing a celebration for Obama in Khartoum will send a wrong signal to some constituencies in the USA, especially to the Republican Party. It will clearly show that we have taken sides in America’s internal politics. Yet we know too well that we also have friends within the Republican Party. In fact many Southern Sudanese, both at home and in the Diaspora, consider the outgoing President George W. Bush as a true friend and ally of the South. For it was/ (is?) during his administration that the NIF were forced to sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of January 2005 with the SPLA/M. Not only that but he has also persistently stayed the course to ensure that the peace agreement is fully implemented by the parties to it. Matter of fact, there are very many strong and prominent supporters of the cause of the Southern Sudan within the ranks of the Republican Party. What message shall we be sending to these great friends of the South? Do we want to show them that we lack the common sense and decency to appreciate their support? Let us all remember that this peace we have today may not last for ever and that we might in the near or longer future need the support of these good friends. The Americans have a saying that “do not burn your bridges”. So, let the SPLM Secretariat not burn our bridges with the Republican Party.
3. True, Obama is an African by descent. But he is an American to the core by upbringing. He was raised as an American and he espouses core American values. Obama has not experienced the tribulations which the true descendants of African slaves underwent in the United States of America. Yes, racial epithets might have been thrown at him; Yes, he might have been denied a job or a promotion or denied any other opportunities because of the color of his skin (in American, even if one has one percent of African blood in his/her veins one is automatically categorized black), but Obama has not experienced the suffering of the greater lot of blacks in American. Because of his white mother, Obama had better opportunities compared to the average black man in American. It must be noted that during his campaigns he disassociated himself from racial politics. He chose to present himself as an American, and not as a black man, seeking the leadership of the USA. Because of this stand of his, he gained the support of all in the country and the respect of the rest of the world. So, in running the business of government of the USA Obama is going to conduct himself as a Democrat and an American. The policies of his government towards other nations will be guided by the interests of America and not any other considerations as some in the SPLM Secretariat would want us to believe. The high expectations that we have placed on Obama’s administration might end up as nothing but mere euphoria. Governance in America is vested in the people and not those in office. Obama’s decisions on governance will be guided by the will of the American people who elected him. He will not do things as he pleases but as the people want. It is only in places such as Castro’s Cuba, Mangesto’s Ethiopia of yester years, Mugabe’s Zimbabwe where elected officials behave and conduct the people’s business according to their whims. Not in the United States of America. Our SPLM Secretariat should know this.
4. If celebrating Obama’s victory, in the thinking of our SPLM Secretariat, is meant to scare the NCP, then I think we are really making a big mistake and making a fool of ourselves as a political party. If anything we are proving them with ammunitions to use against us. Our SPLM Secretariat should know that the NCP has done its work and it knows pretty well what to expect from Obama’s administration. The NCP is not unfamiliar with the policies of the Democratic Party. Coming to power at a time of economic crisis; at a time when the USA is engaged in a vicious and apparently un-winnable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; at a time when terrorists are threatening and vowing to hurt the USA; at a time when climate change is threatening the entire world and so on and so on, the NCP knows too well that the new American Administration will not be a threat, at least in the short term. They know that President-elect Obama will be very much preoccupied with the more pressing national issues. It must be remembered that the Democratic Party, as a matter of ideological orientation, is more prone to dealing with domestic issues rather than international issues. While the war in Darfur and the non or slow implementation of the CPA are important issues for the maintenance of peace and security in the region, it is doubtful that they are going to take center stage in America’s foreign policy considerations. All of these issues are well know to the NCP foreign strategists and they do expect immediate danger to their continued existence. The NCP will not be scared with this chest-beating of ours.
If our SPLM Secretariat had ears to listen and eyes to see they would have stopped this celebration. Many well meaning members of the SPLM have spoken and written to some of the members of our Secretariat advising against the hosting of this celebration but the people running our Secretariat are not people who listen to the views of their members. They believe they know better. These are people who speak from both sides of their mouths. They preach to the members the values of democracy while they themselves do not practice democracy. May be President and Chairman Salva Kiir should intervene in this matter and stop this arrogant and self-styled Secretariat from going ahead with this unnecessary celebration. This celebration is nothing but a political and diplomatic blunder, which, if allowed to continue, will damage the credibility of the SPLM. The SPLM must be seen as a friend of the American people regardless of their political persuasions. The SPLM must not allow itself to be portrayed as a political party which interferes in the internal politics of America by taking sides. If these members of our Secretariat want to have a party to entertain themselves they should not do it in the name of the SPLM. They should hoist it in their own name and finance it with their personal resources and not the resources of the Movement.
The author resides in Southern Sudan and can be reached at [email protected]