Political inheritance is not democracy
By Zechariah Manyok Biar
September 15, 2009 — The untimely death of Dr. John Garang in 2005 ushered into South Sudan politics the idea of political inheritance based on seniority. A debate that is now going on in the media about the refusal of South Sudan President and Chairman of Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement, 1st. Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit to contest against President Omar al-Bashir for national presidency is trying to use inheritance kind of democracy that is not supported by any law in the democratic nations.
Inheritance in democracy happens only when a leader dies before the end of his/her term of office. If the leader is a president, then the vice president will take over to finish the remaining term period. Then elections are done by the end of the term. That was partly what happened when Dr. Garang died. Salva Kiir took over to finish whatever Garang was set to do–that was three years of interim period before the upcoming elections.
What comes after three years that Dr. Garang was going to cover as First Vice President of Sudan and South Sudan President was not fixed. Nobody had even talked about whether Dr. Garang was going to be nominated to run against President Bashir or not. Constitution was going to spell it out. By the time that Dr. Garang died, the current interim constitutions were not written yet. So we need to be clear about what President Kiir inherited and what he did not inherit.
The argument some people are now making is that if Kiir refused to run against Bashir in the upcoming elections, then he should send his deputy Dr. Riek Machar to contest against Bashir, but under one condition: Kiir should hand over the Chairmanship of SPLM to Dr. Machar.
Of course, Kiir is not willing to hand over the Chairmanship of SPLM to Dr. Machar.
SPLM is looking for a different candidate to run against Bashir, leaving both Kiir and Riek in position to contest for the leadership of South Sudan, either as partners or as opponents. That causes disappointment on the side of Riek’s supporters.
Riek’s supporters are saying that Riek is being mistreated because people are settling for a junior and literally amateur, allegedly Malik Aggar, leaving the capable Dr. Machar behind. They think that Gen. Kiir is running away from his constitutional challenges. Dr. Machar’s supporters are saying that Salva Kiir as the chairman of the SPLM should contest against Omar al-Bashir. They go far to call Malik Aggar a Northerner and they also threaten a new split in SPLM.
Do the above arguments have constitutional bases as Dr. Machar’s supporters argue? Let us visit the Constitution then to see if Dr. Machar’s supporters are right.
The Interim Constitution of South Sudan, 2005 does not support the idea that the Chairperson of the party is the one that should be nominated as candidate for president. According to Article 99 (1) “Any eligible voter may nominate whoever he or she deems fit for the office of the President of the Government of Southern Sudan; how ever, the presidential candidate shall be seconded by a number of eligible voters as shall be specified by law.” The Constitution is silent on whether one should nominate him/herself or whether one should refuse to accept nomination if nominated by another person or not. The Constitution does not talk about inheritance of position based on seniority in the party either.
When it comes to the point of being amateur, the Constitution does not talk about expertise. In Article 98, “A candidate for the office of the President of the Government of Southern Sudan shall: (a) be a Sudanese by birth; (b) be of sound mind; (c) be at least forty years of age; (d) be literate; and (e) not have been convicted of an offence involving honesty or moral turpitude.” Malik Aggar, if nominated, will qualify under these conditions.
Maybe Dr. Machar’s supporters are reading the Constitution of the whole Sudan and not the one of South Sudan. So let us look into the Constitution of the whole Sudan.
According to The Interim Constitution of the Republic of the Sudan, 2005, Article 54 (1) “Any eligible voter may nominate whoever he/she deems fit for the office of the President of the Republic; however, the Presidential candidate shall be seconded by a number of eligible voters as specified by law.”
On the qualification of presidential candidate, Article 53 puts it: “A candidate for the office of the President of the Republic shall:- (a) be a Sudanese by birth, (b) be of sound mind, (c) be at least forty years of age, (d) be literate , (e) not have been convicted of an offence involving honesty or moral turpitude.” Being literate here is not specified.
Since no support in both Constitutions for Dr. Machar supporters’ claims, should the threat of split do the job? Maybe. But I doubt it.
We should note that Dr. Machar has never said anything about these claims. So we should not jump into conclusion that he is behind these claims.
All in all, we need to follow what the constitution says and not make up laws in favor of politicians we support. Inheritance is not democracy and does not apply to current debate.
Zechariah Manyok Biar is a graduate student at Abilene Christian University, Texas, USA. He is pursuing a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry and a Master of Science in Social Work, specializing in Administration and Planning. He is a regular contributor to www.newsudanvision.com. For comments, contact him at email: [email protected]
William Okuch
Political inheritance is not democracy
“Give Ceasar what is for him”, said the Lord.
Salva Kiir has been killing separatists who call for the Independence of South for the unity of Sudan.
Therefore, he must dismantled from presiding GOSS and hand it to Dr. Riek Machar who fought for South and Salva Kiir must go and run for the Sudan presidency to implement the vision of the new Sudan.
But if he insist because his Dinka group control the affairs of South, then second split of SPLM/A is at door.
Now to avoid second split of SPLM, Salva Kirr must accept democratic transformation right now for all parties to nominate their candidates for presidency of South.
Thus, Dr. Riek and his supporters will not feel betrayed since it is fair election not Kiir sticking on leadership.
If Riek this time does not assert himself to kick Kiir out to Sudan presidency, his supporters will prove their sayings that Dr. Riek is servant t Kiir and this time, they will abandon Dr. Riek alone and allied with other parties.
Let wait and see till next year how two men waiting for that election could go on.
J.James
Political inheritance is not democracy
Mr. Biar.
Your article is well written acedamically but it has miserably failed contextual test because you didn’t go way ahead to ly down the solutions for the problem. All of us know that Kiir supporters want Mr. Mayardit to stay on power by encouraging him to refuse the election, similarly Riek supporters and the rest or majority of the southerners who are trying to follow CPA principles want Mr. Kiir to run or otherwise hand over the power to Riek for him to face Omar Bashier.
Now as a writer what should be the solution for this wrangling?
You know I don’t have tribale driven intention because I am not Nuer nor Dinka but I am still concern about my country and my people therefore I have to be very democratic here.
I think if this conflict continues, SPLM/GOSS must disolve the govenment and Kiir and Riek has to run for the primaries in the south before general election so that whoever win in primaries has to take over the government and of course run against Omar El Bashier. Or simply lets stick to the CPA rules without wasting times. Because argument will cause more harm than good
Supporting a certain person because he is from your tribe will not help and I think all of us know who should run against Omar next year and I don’t think it will be easy to twist it around this time.
God bless
The writer is always peace activist.
James Okuk Solomon
Political inheritance is not democracy
Truth and Logic Defeated Zechariah Manyok This Time. I was eager to know what brother Manyok wanted to say about “Political inheritance is not democracy” but the whole thing turn out to be a misplaced defense of Dr. Salva Kiir against the possible aspiration of Dr. Riek Machar to contest (I am not saying to become) for the President of the GoSS.
Of course there is no quarrel about this defense because it is a political freedom of Manyok to support his preferred government leader even if he has proven himself incompetent beyond reasonable doubts. However, the little qualms I want to express here is how brother Manyok quoted unsuitably the articles of Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan (ICSS) and Interim Constitution of the Sudan (ICS). The clauses he related are totally correct but their application was totally wrong. Brother Zechariah seems to have missed an important understanding that the ICSS and ICS are not political party’s constitutions, and thus are not constitutions of the SPLM or any other officially registered national party in the Sudan ready to contest 2010 elections.
The best thing that Zechariah could have done to convince his keen readers like myself was to quote the SPLM Constitution or Basic Rules in defense of the current critical position of Dr. Salva Kiir regarding nomination for presidential elections candidature, be it for the GoSS or the Whole Sudan. The ICSS and ICS are obvious for any candidate who has first passed the nomination post internally in the party in accordance with the party’s Constitution or the Basic Rules. They are also obvious for any independent individual Sudanese who has met the nationally agreed eligibility conditions for elections candidature.
So please brother Manyok, could you kindly take your time to read the SPLM Constitution or Basic Rules and then give a better defense for Dr. Kiir in reference to the party’s constitution since the contention now is within the SPLM party as to who is going to contest which position during the elections? Don’t mix or equate SPLM party’s Constitution with the ICSS or ISC. The constitutions clauses you cited will only apply after the SPLM has settled first its internal disagreements on candidates for elections contestation. Your cited constitutional articles have nothing to do with SPLM internal differences now. May be they will apply afterwards once the agreed nominated candidate’s name is forwarded to the National Electoral Commission (NEC) for approval.
Pease note that I am not supporting Dr. Riek but I don’t support those who want to use the SPLM leadership hierarchy for their own selfish gain of power and deny it when others demand for the same criterion. Where in the whole world do juniors go for senior posts while the seniors sit squabbling and conspiring on each other? Any political party that accepts this anomaly is on its way to death. I hope the SPLM is not digging its own grave by such bad attitudes and elections fevering.
“All in all, we need to follow what the constitution says [but provided it is quoted suitably] and not make up laws in favor of politicians we support. Inheritance is not democracy and does not apply to current debate [neither does Manyok’s argument]”.
Gatwech
Political inheritance is not democracy
Dear readers,
This is just for clarity because it appears that some people use foreign words of which meanings they don’t even know. And especially when they use it as an insult on others.
What does the word ’Nyagat’ mean? From where does it originate in the 1980s? For those of us who were in Ethiopia, the word ’Nyagat’ came from the Ethiopian Amharic language word ’negade’ which means capitalist, business people, traders, etc.
It was used by the SPLM/A at that time because of influence from communist or socialist Ethiopia that rejected capitalism. They called them bourgeousie.
But does the SPLM still believe in the sytem of communism and hate capitalists to still call them with the twisting tongue, ’Nyagat.?’ I thought we have already gone capitalist.
The description was originally aimed at those of Samuel Gai Tut who rejected socialism as a system the movement would follow and also demanded separation of the South from the North as the objective that the SPLM/A would have followed from the beginning. They didn’t like new Sudan idea which was copied from new Ethiopia of President Mengistu’s slogan.
It is very interesting that the word ’Nyagat’ has become a frequently used insult by those who do not even know its meaning. I love the origin of the word despite its misunderstood intention by users.
thieleling
Political inheritance is not democracy
Manyok Biar,
You are misleading the sudanese public about wrongly citing the South Sudan & Sudan Interim Constitutions and the U.S Election System for SPLM’s ongoing election strategy. You are wrong both on the U.S election system & the GOSS/GONU Interim Constitutions. For a junior leader to be nominated in the U.S election system, there has to be a primary elctions, elections that were scheduled before the general election. U.S Presidential Nominations and American Democracy are different from an African Political young Party, like SPLM in Sudan.
The system for nominating candidates for the U.S presidency is very complex. But unlike the electoral college system for electing the president, the procedures for nominating presidential candidtates are not spelled out in the U.S Constitution, just as they are not spelled out in the current GOSS/GONU Interim Constitutions for any particular party in Sudan. SPLM is just a political party, it has nothing to do with the Interim Constition and who can run or not. It is restrictly the parties that decide that through their party conventions or Manifesto/BY-Laws. You should quit citing the GOSS/GONU Interim Constitutions as to why Kiir cannot run for SPLM ticket for national election. Dr. Okuk & Mr. Gatwech were right to correct you on your baseless and unsubstantiated reasonings that based on lies to mislead south sudan public.
SPLM held national nominating conventions attended by its delegates to choose the next hierarchical leadership untill 2013. So, what happened to SPLM’s national nominating convention that confirmed its current leadership till 2013 in May of 2008? Manyok, a regime is democratic if those who govern are selected through contested elections. John Garang NEVER was selected through a contested election and so was Salva Kiir. Both became First Vice President and President of South Sudan through a negotiated CPA. But CPA occured under dictatorship.
This election will be the first time south sudanese select their leaders through a contested democratic elections. But Salva has an ideal dictatorial format in mind about how to hijack election through his misleading election strategy. And now you are supporting this undemocratic manipulation based on your tribal inclination?
Yes, Prepare for a different scenarios in south sudan. And Dr. Riek’s supporters will prepare for different scenarios as well. South cannot condone dictatorial tendency. African dictators chose ideal institutional arragement for maintaining power and that was what John Garang & Salva Kiir did. They only would want to change the ideal format if it does not suit them. That is what Kiir is doing. Fair and good. Let’s go for the first true democratic process in SPLM. primary elections that let everyone who wants to run for either presidency in South or North for the party.
There has to be a democratic contests between Salva, Dr. Riek, Wani, Pagan & whoever interested in running among the competent SPLM cadres. Whoever wins the contest either for National or South presidency will go for it against other parties. This is because our SPLM leaders who want to run against each others need to demonstrate their charismatic popularity and potential electability through primary elections within SPLM since Salva dishonored the SPLM 2nd Convention & confirmed SPLM party Comprehensive policies. All will enter multiple states primaries to prove that could win a general election in South Sudan & National ection. Public participation of South Sudanese in the primaries, and general election is needed for a democratic nominating process to be successfull with in SPLM party.
I know you are not an expert or a student of government & politics, especially the U.S election process. There is a different between a dictatorial and democratic electoral system. U.S employed plurality rule for the multi-party-election system. Salva Kiir ruled out a return to war between North & South. but he is creating the demise of the CPA in south Sudan among the SPLM members. His insecure leadership, corruption and his election strategy divided the party already. So, south is going back to war. It is not Dr. Riek supporters who threat the split, it has already happened. You supported Kiir on that front.
If you are not sure about American politics and policy, you should stay away from exporting the American electoral system to SPLM party’s candidadure debate. And since you are not a constitutional expert on Sudan Interim Constitution and party nominations, you should stay away from that as well. It is unneccesary. Your weak analysis and poor comparison on things that are not related exposed yourself-congratulatory superiority, boastful attitude as a wicked lie.
Therefore, your “Political Inheritance is not a democracy” is hollow, baseless political rhetoric not supported by substantiated facts, truth & journalism ethics. It only focuses on Dr. Riek & supporters, the subject of your hate. It is not based on sound objective facts.
Rules within parties for nominating presidential candidates are not outlined in GOSS/GONU Interim Constitutions. And system choosing party candidates in SPLM has nothing to do with both the U.S elections & Sudan Interim Constitutions.
J.James
Political inheritance is not democracy
Mr. Bigl
Remember there was no single Murle during the recent deadly war between Dinka tribes in Rumbek or Bhar El Gazzle in general.
I think you got the answer you deserve boy.
God bless
The writee is always peace activist.
Son of South SudanKG
NUER, MURLE, and Equatorian Must Stop HATING BOR-DINKA!
To whom it may concern!
I would like to make one thing clear to you brother and sisters of our beloved nation South Sudan. I think we all know the history of South Sudan; even some of you who are alcoholic and irresponsible who write on this website; supporting terrorise and MURDERORS of innocent people. For instance Riak Machar ( Riak = Disaster, Machar = Evil DarkNESS).
Riak MaSHIT dignity portfolio is full with DINKA BOR blood of 1991. His record is very obvious that even a BLIND Southerner can’t dare to promote him for Sudan PRESEIDENCY, leave alone SOUTH SUDAN presidency position. Any body supporting RIAK macharShit whether he/she is from Equatoria or Nuer-Nasir is following a dirty road.
My advice to you debaters is to vote for a new fresh blood candidate from NUER rather than Riak Machar, despite his ABYEI case representation. I beg you all to stop pushing machar to a level which doesn’t fit him. The moment Machar Teny becomes SOUTH Sudan president that will just be the beginning of ENTIRE NUER’s EXODUS to Ethiopia.
YOU all should stop HATING DINKA BOR PEOPLE; they are characterized by peace, laws lovers, democracy, people lovers, and never attack MURLE or NUER. But if Equatorian and NUERs continue their baseless and useless HATRATE against BOR-dinka I bet there shall be no PEACE in SOUTH SUDAN. Beside SPLM Youth DIASPORAS should promote peace, UNITY and LOVE between our one time peaceful communities. A failed to do so will be a big FAILURE in the eye of International Community.
Dinka BOR, PEOPLE of DIGNITY & Peace LOVERS!
SOSSKG