Abyei: Losing through reconciliation is better than wining in court
By Stephen Pouch Gai Nilony
August 12, 2009 — Any Sudanese was delighted and pleased by what took place in The Hague concerning the final award of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on the Sudan’s sensitive social, economical and lastly political issue of Abyei. In fact the main parties to the arbitration and the whole nation of the Sudan were waiting for that important day- the 22nd of July 2009, with mixed reactions. Some were yeaning to hear who will be the winner (and who will be the loser) between the two partners. The expected winner is preparing himself as man or men, and herself as political party, to celebrate his/her awaited victory over his opponent, brother in nationality, partner in governing the Sudan or fellow Sudanese citizen. The suspected loser is to lament his bad luck and miscalculations which let to the irreversible ruling of the arbitration court.
Some big media channels and great newspaper writers began before and after the ruling as usual, asking their silly agitative questions of: Who is or will be the winner? Who is or will be the loser? They asked these silly questions, as if this court ruling was a political football match between south and north Sudan. No matter concerning these silly international questions. What is important is the good final result we achieved through the respectable court concerning our home problem of Abyei. Now there is no winner and loser between the governing political partners. Let this be like the CPA, where there was no loser or winner. Any political victory in the national issues should be given to the Sudanese people as national victory, and not to individuals or certain political parties. In other hand, this does not deny the right of those who made the achievement, because they are not doing it for themselves.
This was the general view about the general situation in the country before the wise judgment and the press release of the PCA. That day some shops were closed in some cities of the south Sudan, (El Renk in the Upper Nile State) because of fear of unknown. Some people thought that, the expected court ruling may create some anarchy in the country. Really, the court ruling has nothing to do with any anarchy, because the main reason for its ruling is to avoid any sort of anarchy from anybody in Sudan. It is difficult for a person or people to fear a future of a short time which may be ten or twelve hours after the sun rise. I mean the feeling of the people before the announcement of the court ruling. People were worried and there were a big cloud of uncertainty about the general security situation in the country that day – the 22nd July 2009. The reason was known to those who were wishing to win the court wise ruling of the PCA.
After the successful arbitration, I hope our present leaders should benefit from the soul of this arbitration and set it as reference, criteria and national method, for solving the similar remaining national cases which need wisdom, especially if they really want to solve these domestic problems without any intervention from good and wise foreigners whom we think may help(as they successfully did in the Hague) in solving our major problem on our behalf. It is also good to have somebody who could help in solving a big family problem (if the big and absolute respected family members disagreed). It is also of importance, if that person is a witness to what took place between the parties or partners to that subject matter. After this arbitration, we should have our own wise Sudanese means of solving any issue which hinders the implementation of the CPA.
This arbitration became a Sudanese world record in solving the internal problem outside the country. It is good this time to do that because there was (an official) uncertainty in delimiting the Abyei boundary by it former boundary commission. So it was right and wise to have other legal body to revise and go through the permanent historical realities and documents which support the arguments of the two parties who differed (on behalf of the local citizens of Abyei area) in reaching a peaceful solution to this national issue.
Before creating other unnecessary fresh new brand differences between the Sudanese brothers by mutual contrasting official view points here and there (where some officials got a chance to announced to deduct their partner the new pound oil revenues) I can say that, the respectable permanent court of arbitration only defined and demarcated the area of the nine Dinka Ngok chiefdoms which were transferred from Bahr El Gazal to Kordufan in 1905 and not defining or demarcating the boarders between south and north in Sudan. Let us understand this as people who are concerned to tangible reality before we dance or cry. This is To Whom It May Concern and may understand.
and mutual understanding and cooperation between you and partner to As reality, the court ruling is two sided or got two sharp dignified legal edges. It may be good or bad to one party according to his personal or party calculations, at the same time, it is a must because it is binding and without any appeal to the concerned parties, and they all know this reality in advance and accepted it. So to those who may lose are to have to bear it and accept their lost (because, you cannot lose and win the same case in the same court at a time) and not try to compensate that lost by creating other new wicked gaining chances which may be contrary to the soul of the good arbitration the implementation of the great nationalist made CPA.
There are agitators or political brokers from the writing public who should keep away from aggravating and exaggerating in handling the national issues which need neutral analysis. Our good and usual bad example is the whole Al intibaha newspaper, which has taken it clear position by specializing in degrading and writing many bad articles of criticism to GoSS and the southerners without exception.
In our turn we are up to it up to now as neutral writers, because it is not difficult to reply them through their way of intended aggression, but we delayed in counter acting or fighting back, because we want to hear more from them for our own benefit, by going with them silently, until we reach together with them their final destination in hating their country fellow men and partners to nationality. The must spurring thing is that, if they may grasp, is how can they expect us to love them and like their living together as brother in humanity and nationality? Let those of Al intibaha and anything similar to it, answer this simple national question.
Sorry for deviating away a bit by passing quickly through the trivial agitators, leaving the subject matter of this article for a while. This is because the above mentioned newspaper exceeded its given official limit of press freedom. The examples are there every day. It commercial distribution, depends on it trend in this bad activity of insulting the southerners.
As a reminder to whom it may concern, it better to mention that, the boarder between south and north is under demarcation according to what have been agreed upon between the CAP partners in accordance to the CPA. Even if it delayed for a known or unknown reason/s. We should all (whether for or against the final ruling of the PCA) wait for the final result of the national demarcation between south and north and not to create or intentionally advocate another unnecessary official press releases concerning the ownership of the original historical Nuer land of Liech (which was intentionally renamed- Heglig by adding capital H and other phonetically sounds to the real historical name) before the demarcation of the known boarders of 1956 of the republic of the Sudan.
All in all and to those who may think better and put the stability of this country as their first priority, let us not go abroad again to import wisdom by traveling for the search of it. Let us not leave our Sudanese wisdom at home again and look for a solution from others. I know there are known remaining difficult articles which need fulfillment in complete and sincere implementation in the CPA, but let us benefit from the PCA example of 22nd July 2009.
To me, and if will be considered as more sympathetic or ignorant about the sensitive political or communities gains, losing through, within or by internal reconciliation, is more better than winning a national right in foreign land and court. This is To Whom It May Concern and may understand and respond to the national call for solving the national problem peacefully and internally.
The author is based in Malakal, Upper Nile State. He can be reached at [email protected].