Best decision from best men!

By Isaiah Abraham

April 3, 2010 — The decision to pull out Mr. Yasir Saeed Arman in the contest for Presidency from the SPLM ticket is wise and was indeed made in heaven. The decision came as of no surprise to many but caught others including Mr. Arman election team by a big surprise. It was a plumb decision that deserves a huge pat to the SPLM Political Bureau! Who else would doubt that the SPLM is a party to beat and have the interest of her people at heart? The people of Southern Sudan should now rest assured in the safe hands of His Excellency Lt. General Salva Kiir Mayardit and The big Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny.

Call it a betrayal, atrocious, apostasy, scam and what have you, but am pretty sure that this is required of a leadership, to be extraordinary and preemptive in its vision. In the first place, Arman nomination was damn odd. We still in partnership and Al Bashir isn’t that bad. Mr. Arman, our people sniff a rat in the opposition ritzy issues in the election that was roughen in the boycott threats. Sir, we love you, only that you are a lone ranger there! It is not about you but about us after you.

Allow me to put myself in the SPLM shoes for the sake of this particular argument. Let’s start from somewhere: what issues are we talking about that the opposition want done to make this election credible? In another word, why is opposition so serious about changes before election? To those in the know, like you, the issues aren’t fresh; we know that security and the media laws are two contentious issues the opposition thought the NCP has an advantage. Rigging was another one. The opposition could be right. But am a hearing a tone outside that box, something the SPLM saw it and put it to a halt through this decision on Arman.

The Northern Opposition, to be specific, aren’t only asking for postponement of the elections because of the above issues, but the fact that the opposition ventured into issues in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) raises a concern as to what that mean to the constituency the SPLM represents. So, where did I get this from? It was right from the mouth of the opposition leaders in their press conferences. It sounds familiar with that of the Darfur rebels, Doha and Cairo leaders. Darfur must be part of the election. To this author that was just political buccaneering as far Southern Sudan is concerned; and therefore not acceptable while we have breaths. We have said it a million times that please, don’t link the two cases (Darfur and the South), whether in our skins or in our African heritage; we are different nations!

There is another easy side to tell (mere analysis from this decision. The SPLM last minute pull out of Arman has some critical if not important highlights for the Sudanese. The marriage between the SPLM and other Northern Opposition Groupings (Juba All Parties Conference Members) was done in bad faith. The Northern Opposition Groups want to use the SPLM for their personal goals. The SPLM thought the Northern Opposition parties would stick to the book and allow the CPA provisions to go ahead in their natural courses- election to go ahead and the referendum. The other side curse is the referendum, and the best option for them is to remove President Al Bashir. If not why do you insist on pushing behind election in April, what month behind it can accommodate logistical difficulties if not November and December.

Second, the SPLM has demonstrated it commitment to listen to its constituency more through practice. That means that the SPLM can’t ignore the voice that called for continuation of the partnership with the NCP for the survival of the CPA. President Al Bashir might not be popular in the Sudan or the South and in fact any Northerner or an Arab for that matter can’t be trusted by Southerners, yet this man called Al Bashir has redeemed himself through courage to wade through his own opposition onslaught, when he had wanted to sign the CPA. What else do you need from anyone if he gives you freedom?

Third, the SPLM in its initials has made clear that democracy can wait- an election is not its priority- but that position was overtaken by the fact that referendum ought to be supervised by an elected government. I don’t know whether that was applied in Eritrean’s case. Besides, pushing election behind will only mean postponement of problems. Our political and economic interests demand that we don’t push election behind. Forth, the SPLM decision shouldn’t be seen as speculative or opportunistic rather a political ‘rebate’ or sacrifice to protect the implementation of the CPA from opportunists. It is time to move on quickly and put behind this election.

This is why SPLM would always be ahead of others. This is a team that will deliver. Our people should reward SPLM for its sacrifices on our behalf. This election is our time to vote SPLM back to power, with our huge turn out. They have brought us a long way, and we must think of what to do to them about us. They listen and with time we shall be proud of what we together achieve through them. May God continue to guide our leaders!

SPLM should now think about Arman as a person; his voice never changes after that fateful press conference under the Vice President (Dr. Machar). I have observed him and his body language never betrayed him, and hence a man to watch. I would love to see him in the next government and even that of our own independent state. He should in our new independent government Millions of Congratulations to leaders at Political Bureau, may you continue to make such decisions in the future for the sake of our people. Long live SPLM/A, Mr. Mayardit/Machar Oyee. Mr. Amum, why are you mum?

Isaiah Abraham lives in Juba; he can be reached at [email protected]