Sudan’s transitional mess starts at foreign ministry

By Steve Paterno

January 9, 2011 — Just before even a first ballot is casted on South Sudan referendum, Khartoum has already taken a unilateral drastic action to summarily dismiss South Sudanese ambassadors serving in missions abroad. The ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued a recall on all the South Sudanese who serve abroad to report to Khartoum on a pretext that they are needed to come for consultations. Upon luring those ambassadors in Khartoum, they are told not to report back to their stations. Some of those ambassadors had their diplomatic passports confiscated. This incident is reminiscence of Sudan’s dark days of police state. The action is not only in violation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), but it also has a far reaching repercussions, as it foretells how disorderly Sudan’s transitional period is going to be.

It has to be recalled that in Sudan’s history, Southerners have barely been represented in the foreign ministry, much less in ambassadorial positions. When Sudan obtained its independence, its first foreign relation statement was to declare Sudan as an Islamic-Arab state, based on the claim that Sudan has “age-long blood” with the Islamic-Arab World. This was to mark the beginning of long history of discrimination, which automatically exclude South Sudanese who are non Muslims or Arabs from representing the country abroad.

However, the CPA resolves this age-long discrimination in a power sharing arrangement, by allowing Southerners to be represented in foreign ministry as well as in missions abroad. Since then, at least, less than a handful of Southerners are deployed to serve abroad. Unfortunately, before their terms of service is over, in accordance with the CPA, they are already being dismissed. According to the CPA, the terms of the interim period must end by July, regardless of the outcome of the referendum. This means, even though the referendum confirms South Sudan secession, still the transitional period must run smoothly and peacefully, through adherence to the law.

The fact has always remains that the National Congress Party (NCP) in Khartoum is doing its best to frustrate the Southerners in every aspect of CPA implementation. Of late, the biggest fear has been that they will start a war with the Southerners to derail the referendum. Nonetheless, the possibility of that war is at least remote for now and it has become difficult to sabotage the referendum process and outcome. George Clooney surveillance satellite is in the air, watching every move of their troops and war planes. The UN peacekeepings forces are stepping up their monitoring activities. Foreign press swarm the country to report on anything they see. Observers from around the world come in big numbers to witness a free and fair referendum vote. Therefore, the plan to wage a preemptive war and derail the referendum is at least put on hold.

The tactic of this regime now is to turn where there are less focus and attention, such as purging South Sudanese off the ministry of foreign affairs. Few people, including South Sudanese are aware of the fact that the South Sudanese who are serving in missions abroad are being dismissed. That is exactly what Khartoum intents: to operate in dark, where there is no focus or scrutiny of their actions.

Their next strategy will be to capitalize on the remaining outstanding issues of post referendum. The recent silence on the issue of Abyei does not come as a surprise. They prefer the status quo. Negotiations on South Sudan oil wells, transportation and refinery is going to be extremely difficult. Closely related to oil is the issue of border demarcation, which is yet to be resolved. The issue of citizenship is another thorny one, where Khartoum is making it difficult to be resolved. The troubling numerous public statements by top officials in Khartoum on the subject are enough evidents on where the regime stands on the issue. For example, one of such troubling statement is issued by Information Minister Kamal Obeid, who declared that in case of South Sudan secession, Southerners in the North will lose basic rights, including a right to even buy things at the market.

To deal with Khartoum, it requires a multitasking, what some in international community call “robust diplomacy and intense pressure.” These people have been too long in the game and know how to play it very well. They can give-up on one thing and create the problem on the other. The recent history can prove this. For example, as the regime signed the CPA with the Southerners, it then staged another war in Darfur. They then tried to negotiate with Darfur, while at the same time, dismantling the CPA. President Omar al-Bashir was just in Juba, pretending to appease the Southerners, while there was already plan in motion to dismissing Southerners serving in the missions abroad. As soon as President al-Bashir was back in Khartoum, his tone about South Sudanese changed, describing the notion of dual citizenship as “illogical” and Southerners as people who are not ready to govern themselves. One wonders what do the countries that the South Sudanese ambassadors are pulled from will think, let alone whether they even know this action. As for the South Sudanese, this is another reason to opt for an independent state.

Steve Paterno is the author of The Rev. Fr. Saturnino Lohure, A Romain Catholic Priest Turned Rebel. He can be reached at [email protected]