Our leaders should initiate names-change now: RESPONSE to SPLM/A Must Change its Official Name
By Gatkuoth Deng, USA FEB. 27/2011, SSN; I would like to express my agreement, with some reservations though, in respect to valid points brought to the attention of the readers by the author of the article, ‘SPLM/A Must Change its Official Name to Duly Reflect the Name of the New Country’. To me, this issue is worthy of serious timely discussions and considerations by the leadership of our government and the concerned party (SPLM) during this transitional period to statehood in July 2011. The issue, of course, is on the obvious irrelevance of the names Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). These two names deserve immediate attention and alterations, for the purposes of conformity, especially following the conclusion of the 55 years of subsequent liberation struggles since 1955 which has now resulted in the split of the country (Sudan) into North and South and formation of an independent Republic of South Sudan (RoSS). I had written an article back in 2008 about the same inescapable logic to change the names which is now required by the party and the army in the transformational process to independence of South Sudan. I argued that such names would be subjected to scrutiny that would question their irrelevance when, and not if, South Sudan became independent. Some people reacted negatively by rebuking my very prediction on the independence of South Sudan as well as ignorantly clinging on what they thought was presumably ‘untouchable’ names of SPLM/SPLA. I have been reminded by some particular issues that I should quote below from the author (PaanLuel) in his article which caught my attention because the issues he mentioned indeed reminded the readers about the negative culture of sometimes resisting positive changes, which attitude some of our political leaders have been historically known for. QUOTE: “In calling for the SPLM to change its official names, I have all along presupposed that there would be no much qualms about it, and for good reasons. Surely, this won't be the first time that unanticipated circumstances will be forcing the veteran liberation party hands against its will and purposes. The 1991 Nasir Rebellion shook SPLM/A to its core. Confronted with a combined forces of a resurgent Jihadistic party of NCP and the Nasir Group, SPLM/A, in the 1994 Chukudum Convention had to change its core strategy of the war and added Southerners Self-determination besides its traditional stand of New Sudan Vision which “advocates pluralism and respect for diversity in all of Sudan.” Forward those scenarios to the CPA era and the referendum period, you would have noticed that the SPLM/A gracefully and humbly settled for the (unintended) moon instead of the (targeted) star. Certainly, ideological flexibility, contextual interpretation and timely response to the rapidly unfolding events ensure survivability in the rough waters of unforgiving political scene. Rigidity, on the other hand, spells dooms. As the splintering of the Movement in the 1990s, the untimely death of Dr. John Garang in 2005, and thus, the apparent un-attainability of the New Sudan had compelled SPLM/A in the past to change its course and actions, I also expect the current new developments, as illustrated above, to help convince the SPLM/A to study and respond, appropriately, to the calling of history as it currently unfold,” END QUOTE. You have said it all, Mr. PaanLuel! And I hope the current SPLM/A leadership shall voluntarily take heed and listen to the voices of wisdom, instead of waiting for its hands to be “forced against its will and purposes.” Let the names-change be their “will and purpose.” I hope the names-change requirement which is dictated by logic and transformational shift from ‘united Sudan (targeted star) to independent South Sudan (settled-on moon)’, as you described the two, will not face resistance this time. It was very unfortunate that the right to self-determination of the people of South Sudan, which has now become the only envisioned mechanism or boat crossing us through the Red Sea to our golden secured freedom (independence), was badly resisted in 1990’s and had to cause another bloody revolutionary struggle within a revolution in order to achieve it. Our leaders should liberate themselves from the political culture of misunderstandings and resistance to positive issues at their perfect initial stage and then reluctantly accept them later after causing some damages. Yes, I would suggest that the sooner the SPLM-South changes its name to something else relevant, the better. The current name, SPLM, can be used by the Northern Sector of Malik Agar if the disengagement process between the two ruling parties in the North and South becomes smooth and provides conducive atmosphere for the two political parties to operate while maintaining their ideologies in the two independent states. Since the SPLM-South, which currently engages with other South Sudan political parties will have to register again in the new independent South like the rest of the South Sudan political parties which got registered in North Sudan (Khartoum); I presume that in the process it would work to forge mergers or alliances with some of like-minded political forces and come up with a single new name for all of them, and register with it in South Sudan (Juba). I believe that the main difference between the SPLM and the rest of the South Sudan political parties was on its united New Sudan Vision, which the separatist parties thought did not prioritize attainment of South Sudan independence. Now that everybody is a separatist by the fate of the outcome of the referendum in January 2011, there will be no more bold differences. Of course, the name ‘Sudan’ plus ‘Liberation’ should be removed from the SPLM and replaced with a new name reflective of objective vision for the independent Republic of South Sudan. For the army, the name Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) will not be relevant anymore because the rebel army, SPLA, was liberating the whole of Sudan from injustices, etc., applied on the people of Sudan by the subsequent Khartoum governments. Now that it will be a national army of another new independent state called Republic of South Sudan, it should not continue to be liberating South Sudan from the regime of its Commander-in-Chief and President of the new nation, but shall be defending the country (its people, territory and system) from external and, in some cases, internal security threats. And therefore the name of the army (SPLA) should be changed to either South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF), or South Sudan Army (SSA), or South Sudan Armed Forces (SSAF). The author is a concerned South Sudanese and can be reached at: [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
