President Kiir to be briefed on resolutions of Greater Bhar el Ghazal conference
May 26, 2013 (JUBA) – Governors of the states of Greater Bhar el Ghazal region have arrived Juba to brief president Salva Kiir Mayardit on the resolutions that came out from the five-day regional conference.
Though some of their political leaders boycotted the conference, a good number of the sons of the region participated in the deliberations.
Governors Paul Malong of northern Bhar el Ghazal and Nyandeng Malek of Warrap state arrived Juba on Sunday. Malong told the press at Juba International Airport that they came to brief the president on the resolutions of the regional conference.
Among the resolutions that came out of the conference was the call for the Greater Bhar el Ghazal to support Salva Kiir’s presidency now and beyond 2015 elections.
The conference which is the first of its kind since the establishment of the autonomous southern Sudan government in 2005 and its subsequent independence in 2011 seems to have been a reaction to the recent political debates which examined Kiir’s leadership in the party and government.
Many senior party and government leaders including the vice-president, Riek Machar, who is also the deputy chairman of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), as well as Pagan Amum, the party’s secretary general, voiced their concern that Kiir was not performing well in both party and government.
Included is the presidential advisor, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, the widow of the late founder of the SPLM, John Garang de Mabior, who has been critical of how the party and the state were being run by the top leadership.
The debates which were at the stage of internal party politics were however leaked to the public in March after members of the highest executive organ, the politburo, discussed the leadership performance in the presence of the chairman and his deputies.
The party which was supposed to hold its national convention this month under normal schedule to confirm or elect a new leadership is yet to pass its basic documents which are required before the conduct of the convention.
The documents include the constitution, manifesto, code of conduct and rules and regulations. They are needed to conform to the new reality of operating in an independent country following the split of the former Sudan into two.
A party official told Sudan Tribune that the crack in the leadership might have been used by elements in the party to delay the passing of the documents, thus delaying the conduct of the proposed primary elections and subsequent holding of the convention.
The anonymous party official added that the turn of the events is a bad news for the smooth democratic transformation of the historical movement, at least for now, adding that the party is not respected in the world of democracy.
“SPLM has become a joke to many of the democratic countries around the world because of its failure to transform itself democratically coupled with the bad image which is associated to it as a ruling party in a government swimming in rampant corruption”, he said.
“This historical organization has lost the respect it used to command during the liberation struggle when it was a fighting guerrilla movement. This is because we have failed and got stuck with the process of transforming it into a viable democratic, non-militant political party with a vision to take a giant step from the liberation era to good governance, development and prosperity for all”, he added.
However, the political party debate has seemingly taken another dimension of regional political blocs in recent weeks.
South Sudan has three defunct greater regions of Upper Nile, Equatoria and Bhar el Ghazal, which were created by Khartoum’s former president Jaafer Mohamed Nimiri. The latter divided South Sudan to three regions in response to the bitterness expressed in a call that was known as Kokora by the communities of Equatoria in early 1980s.
However the greater regions were abolished in 1993 by the incumbent Sudan’s president, Omer Hassan Al Bashir, who divided the region into ten states.
“I couldn’t believe the way some of our leaders take the issue of leadership so emotional. Some of us seem to forget that the party or government’s constitutions are the respective supreme laws that give guidance on how leaders should fall or rise. If people talk of chairman or president, Salva Kiir as a failure, this doesn’t mean the whole Greater Bahr el Ghazal region he comes from is the failure,” said Deng Lual, a young intellectual from the Greater Bahr el Ghazal region in reaction to the conference.
Deng condemned the reintroduction of regional politics wondering why the president of the country allowed the fate of his leadership to be discussed based on regionalism, which he said could also encourage tribal politics.
Nhial Gatwech from Upper Nile in reaction to the two conferences by Greater Equatoria and Greater Bahr el Ghazal regions, respectively, said it was also time for the Greater Upper Nile region to consult and study the resolutions passed by the two regional blocs.
All the three greater regions have historical leaders who have led the people of South Sudan in their contemporary liberation struggle for the liberation which gave birth to the independence.
The former president of the High Executive Council, Joseph Lagu, hails from Greater Equatoria as well as the current speaker of parliament and deputy chairman of SPLM, James Wani Igga, among others.
The incumbent president Salva Kiir Mayardit, who chairs the ruling party, and former Sudan’s vice-presidents, George Kongor and Moses Machar, come from Greater Bhar el Ghazal region.
Famous political leaders from Greater Upper Nile include the former Sudan’s vice-president and first president of the High Executive Council, Abel Alier, the current vice-president and deputy chairman of SPLM, Riek Machar, speaker of the Council of States, Joseph Bol Chan, Secretary General, Pagan Amum, and the leader of the biggest opposition party, Lam Akol.
John Garang de Mabior, the late founder of the SPLM who led the movement for 21 years also comes from the greater Upper Nile.
In terms of wealth Greater Upper Nile is currently the richest region in South Sudan, providing 98% of the resources that run the nation.
(ST)