Doomed national elections in Sudan

By Abuoi Jook Alith

March 17, 2009 — The dominating political turmoil in Sudan between the main partners in the Government of National Unity (GoNU) formed by Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the National Congress Party (NCP), which claim safeguarding of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) poses tremendous risks on the very document the parties pretend to protect. This article however, mainly focuses on meaningless of the forthcoming national elections in the country. The expected hurdles in those elections are obvious but include not only the followings: Fifth Housing and Population Census results delay, South-North Border Demarcation, Abyei Protocol including its border, troops’ redeployment, wealth sharing and the so-called elections.

First and foremost, the issue of forthcoming elections has undermined the effectiveness and full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) by the two signatories of the Accord, which are Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the National Congress Party (NCP). Real political analysts and philosophers in this country may be spending sleepless nights when the main partners of the Accord (SPLM and NCP) call for general elections, while the core issues of contention between the former foes which brought the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) are not completely implemented as per Agreement. It comes to the mind of the lay person of Sudanese national that these elections are meaningless to be conducted when South-North border remains undefined not to mention a mediocre politician. What is so important with these elections for Southern Sudan Government to be even speculating about their running? Why not deals with Border Demarcation first to clearly know where our population starts? Now what will determine the southern constituencies in these so-called national elections when the border is not defined and the Census results are being withheld?

Consequently, the conduct of the fifth Housing and Population Census last year was a very serious mistake ever committed by the GoSS simply, because one can not count population and housing of Southern Sudan when he/ she does not know where the border lies. Well if the census was then conducted and now awaiting its results, why are we southerners rushing for these confused national elections. I think to have been good for GoSS to know the results of last year’s census that would determine the population of the South. However, even if the results come out in favour of the south in that matter, how will some one determine southern population while the border issue still remains unresolved? Border issue could have been initially considered before the so-called Fifth Housing and Population Census was carried out if southern politicians really mind about CPA implementation as they proclaim right now. The southern government’s president Salva Kiir is hardly trying to blow whistle for the delay of Census results release while he has been talking of elections conduct the whole of last year. Why now? The answer depends with southerners.

Nevertheless, the Abyei Protocol is yet another major issue clearly stipulated in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement but the NCP is less concerned with its implementation. I wonder when the GoSS talks of the national elections conduct as the full commitment to the implementation of the Accord and the very same CPA has recommended the implementation of the Abyei protocols. According to my understanding I believe that SPLM is contradicting itself when it claims to protect CPA by supporting running of forthcoming elections while the border issue and Abyei Protocol are not implemented. We should be sincere that NCP has defeated the southern politicians both politically inclusive of lies and may be ideologically.

Furthermore, the troops’ redeployment along the South-North border of 1956 is a transparent solution to the confused and frustrating issue of border demarcation. My question goes like this: what is so difficult and complicated with the border issue when the very two parties agreed and signed in the Accord the redeployment of troops along the above border (1956)? If the 1956 border was not true and real, why both parties initially admitted redeploying their troops along it? To my view, the issue of border is not complicated but the SPLM is afraid or being threatened with return to war by NCP if it sticks to South-North border as per 1956. Are we implementing the CPA when we skip the issue of border and Abyei protocols and jump to doomed national elections? One wonders of course! We should learn to avoid skipping difficult areas for complicated simple issues that do not offer us any favour.

Lastly, wealth sharing and power sharing are also not going intact as per the Accord because GoSS began with the weakest position since the formation of the Government of National Unity shortly after the death of tough negotiator former SPLM leader Dr John Garang de Mabior, when the SPLM gave in the key ministries of energy and finance to the NCP. So, nothing is going well under the so-called being protected CPA by the GoSS- SPLM dominated government. Therefore, when a leader or politician skids off the road, it’s hard to return on right track and that is the case with our SPLM position in Sudan politics. They are easily misled and defeated with simple lies visible in the sight of lay men not to mention mediocre politician.

Summarily, the position of SPLM party as the leading southern political party in Sudanese politic has failed southerners drastically and significantly. The southern champion seems to forge rapprochement with the former foe NCP by sending mixed information regarding El Bashir’s expected indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The official voice of the party is clearly conveyed by party’s secretariats while the GoSS president sends the opposite. Salva Kiir even went on to say that indictment will derail CPA yet the very scary baby is being risked by Bashir himself through the delay of border demarcation, Abyei border and the fifth housing and population census results delay. All these implicitly and explicitly summed up to serious violation of the CPA if our president with his government fails to realize that. Therefore, I am calling upon political activists and advocates to raise alarm for fifth housing and population census results release, immediate border demarcation, full implementation of Abyei protocol and immediate release of southern budget respectively. Our politicians become incapable of tackling the NCP political maneuverings. Otherwise Khartoum is plotting a war against the south through salary delay so that southern army and civil servants rebels against their government (GoSS), then they easily denounce CPA valueless in broad day light.

The author is a Social Science graduate based in Sydney Australia and can be reached through [email protected]