Can the SPLM win South Sudan 2015 elections?

Five Major advices to the SPLM for winning next General Elections – this time within the New Nation Elections Laws!!

By Ateny Wek Ateny

This topic is complex, and so it requires some wisdom and perseverance to understand and analyse. As human, we have too complex organs that had more than just one function: for examples “Mouth” had two functions, one to help you eat and live, and another to help you talk and be heard. Sometimes, a mouth can say something that may prevent you from eating . Given that, the world had grown materialistic, what ones says to please the poor majority of people, may not please the wealthy few and vies-versa. For the author, talking to be heard and to hear is the underlining ‘holly principles’. I eat to live, but also to be heard. This small readers’ note is to highlight why this topic is necessary now.
Sudan April’s General Election, was by no means the type of Elections one should be proud of. South Sudan during the signing of the Addis Ababa accord, had one of the best Elections one can say ‘it had the element of what you can call ‘elections’ – at least from African perspective. What was lacking in the Addis Accord was the voice of the South within Sudan Political and Social decision-making establishment. The CPA had provided the cornerstone to South Sudan Independence on July 9th, 2011 – thanks to the late leader of the then rebel SPLM/A. Nevertheless, the CPA didn’t bring real democracy – rather it has provided the bases for making one in future. The sets of protocols the CPA had sought to be implemented prior to the confirmation of the unity of Sudan, or secession of Southern Sudan provided some set of rules that makes any ‘Free and Fair Elections’ impossible. In the CPA, the NCP in the North must contest to win, while in the South, SPLM must also win – simply to keep partnership in the peace agreement. And, of course it was true – the two parties must have won by all means. And therefore, no any person in his rightful mind would have dare to be too much proud of April Elections. The April Elections’ victory, was more or less than that of the unanimous peoples’ of South Sudan victory for just one given purpose – “SPLM must be voted in to oversee the Independence of South Sudan”. It had nothing to do with success in the political program of any party. SPLM emerges as a politico-military organization and so within it, lives some organs which share only one thing with the visionary leaders of the SPLM/A – the “Liberation Movement”. With liberation completed on the July,9th, 2011 the SPLM as a party should now reshape its policies in order for it to be electable come 2015.
The author, moved by the series of speeches delivered by various speakers at Nyakorun Cultural Centre, during October 9th 2011 Events in which Aweil Community celebrated in the honour of its (two recently appointed sons as Ministers in the National Government, i.e. Major General Madut Biar Yel of the Ministry of Telecommunication and Postal services, and Hon. Garang Diing Akuong of the Trade, Industry and Investment Ministry), found it necessary to alert the SPLM of his observations. Dr. Bernaba Marail Benjamin, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, was the guest of honour on behalf of our President H.E 1st Lieutenant General Salva Kiir Mayardit. If anything, Dr. Benjamin spoke volume and his speech was ‘marvellous and spectacular’ – he had truly represented the president to the satisfaction of the whole attendants. Among other speakers; the governor of NBGS, the representatives of women, students, elders, Chiefs, and SPLM representative, just to mention few also spoke at length in respect of their views in the socio-economic and political problems our country is undergoing.
However, my focus point is in the Speech delivered by one of the most brilliant, articulate and charismatic and economist SPLM Secretary of Finance (South Sector) Mr. Kuel Aguer Kuel. If any, Mr. Kuel’s speech was well-written, articulated to the best of the SPLM’s policy speeches. This kind of speech would have been ideal for SPLM political seating. However, it was delivered in the wrong forum, wrong place at the wrong time. Aweil community is not SPLM, neither is it a political organization – otherwise, there could have been speeches expected from other South Sudan Political forces in which some members of Aweil community finds their memberships. It was ‘utterly ludicrous’ for the organizing committee to have place our brother Kuel in such a situation. While the majority of the people of Aweil, are either SPLM or sympathisers – given the cause the SPLM had been demonstrating, making Aweil to look as if, with SPLM they are different size of the same coin is a somewhat disappointing.
To come to the point, albeit Kuel’s speech was well-articulated and it had what it takes to be the speech of the leader of some kind of charisma, it was less receptive – to say the least. Kuel’s speech was truly SPLM’s and it had focused on the SPLM promises to the people during the April Elections. It had also focused ‘inter alia, on the leadership the SPLM had shown in running up to the 2011 referendum, the CPA, promises of SPLM to the people of South Sudan during April Elections, equitable distribution of wealth, equality, prosperity, all other SPLM’s usual revolutionary slogans. Ustaz Kuel did not leave any loopholes in the way the SPLM had conducted itself during the 21 years civil war, and after the signing of the CPA. So, what I have seen in the said SPLM representative speech was that, all these songs had become old songs and therefore are no more entertaining. A song that is sung for nearly thirty years cannot be expected to be entertaining to the generation that was not born when those songs came to being. I was part of Mr.Kuel’s Presidential Campaign Management team in Northern Bhar El Ghazal during the well-remembered April Elections, so I had witnessed what our campaign had gone through , but the space dictates to remains outside the remit of this article. I want the SPLM not to forget the lesson-learned during those elections. But what is important here is that, Kuel’s speech did not come within what the people of Aweil, or South Sudan would have expected to hear from SPLM representative at this juncture. As one of those who knows Mr.Kuel’s ability to move the crowds, I was shy to see him coming back to his seat after his speech with less than 10 hands clapping (something I have never seen in Kuel’s speeches). In this, I would like to give five points advices to the SPLM in what I hope would be taken heed of, for winning the next General Elections. I am a member of SPLM and I love SPLM to win 2015, 2020, 2025’s Elections and so on, so long as the SPLM keep itself aboard the world of political dynamism – and not static revolutionary slogans. The speech ended with SPLM Oyee …. but few responded. So, the following five points are crucial to winning next elections.
1. Real fighting against rampant corruption in South Sudan should be seriously undertaken by the SPLM led government . As the ruling party, the continuation of corruption and the impunity rendered to corrupts official to loot public monies, and the statements released by the SPLM leaders without bringing those statements into implementation may backfire. So the SPLM leadership must reshuffle Anti-Corruptions Commission, and so people of high integrity be appointed, and the laws which fight corruption enacted. Accountability is effective tool in fighting corruption.
2. Service delivery, the Government headed by the SPLM must ensure real delivery of services, and not ‘utopian slogans’. Like the successes the SPLM had gained during the war and in peace – therefore leading South Sudan to its full independence from Sudan, failure to deliver services to the people in the last six years and the proceeding 4 years shall be counted on on SPLM- menu and can be counterproductive. The Presidents’ 100 days should continue after the elapse of that duration throughout the 4 years of the interim government so that, this statement is translated into real. And, this will pressurise the constitutional and administrative post holders to be serious about development. The general public also had a duty, but it requires supervision and regulatory measures from the incumbent government.
3. Eradication of poverty, or at least the government should tackle on improving living standard. The huge gap between the poor and the rich (of 2005) is so enormous and so, the government must ensure its narrow it. Since 2005, government officials had been determine to enrich themselves or the members of their immediate families, and this had created the richness of some individuals on expense of the majority of the people of South Sudan. The president had shown his intolerance on corruption and corrupt officials. He (the president) had issued statement urging those who stole public monies to return them, and so putting this statement in practice shall go down to the purse of SPLM for winning next elections and for being praise for effecting ‘Good Governance’. Nepotism also helps to aggravate poverty, since the jobs are given to wrong people.
4. Security; SPLM had never turn a blind eye to the urge to maintain security for its citizens. During the war, SPLM/A fought the SAF and PDF in one hand and the various Southern Sudanese’ Militias just to ensure its cares about lives of civilian. However, since the singing of the CPA – killing of innocents people had become part of competition for gaining political posts. Militia leaders had been on and off defending on their marketability. If, the money don’t keep flowing in the South, the best is to rebel and join the North, and when the South offer you money, you come back with the list of some 4000 men/women in less than 3 months of absent – seeking integration into SPLA. All these process requires the SPLM as ruling party to say ‘enough is enough’. Appeasement is not the only tool the government should have used throughout 6 years of the post CPA and would like to continue – there are other way: guess them. No one is incapable of taking arms against the government, so if we keep appeasement as the only tool of survival, so are we ready to appease 10 million South Sudanese – since the only way for living is almost becoming to be that of arms?.
5. Finally, SPLM should rejuvenate, reorganises its institutions and make sure it allows the process of identifying the new leaders to emerge – instead of relying on ‘the some old Gurus that do not work for the good of SPLM’. Party Conference, should start to be held annually, so that the party progress is monitored. Convening Conventions every five years – makes the scrutiny difficult. SPLM should institutionalized and keep itself operative institutional wise than keeping the old revolutionary way. War of liberation had gone, the liberation itself completed, so what else can we rely apart from living up to the norms of a modern political party?. All SPLM institutions are either nominally operating or dysfunctional. With exception of Political Bureau which decides on the fate of SPLM, the hibernating other institutions of the party should be wake up to functions. Identification of possible party cadres is often determine in the wake of a given party political event – and so the five years conventions are not enough.

The author is a delegate in the SPLM 2nd National Convention, and can be reached by either e-mail ; [email protected] or by phone 0955911110.