South Sudan Conflict: SPLM is the problem and the solution
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By Tor Madira Machier,
Since its inception more than 30 years ago, the fractured Sudan
People’s Liberation Movement, the SPLM has been the reason for the
suffering the South Sudanese have been enduring both before and after
the independence in July 2011. It also let the Southern region of
Sudan into becoming an independent nation in July 2011.
As of today, June 2017, the SPLM is fractured into more than three
factions both caring the name SPLM and each group talking change. The
SPLM -In-Government the SPLM-in-Opposition, the SPLM - Former
Detainees, and formerly the SPLM-DC (now Democratic Change Party) all
originated from the SPLM formed by Dr John Garang in 1983. All were
created out of disagreements and party infighting fueled by rivalry,
regionalism and struggle for power.
All the factions mentioned above are led by SPLM officials who fell
out with the party Chairman over reforms or over a disagreement over
running the party affairs.
As a matter of fact, all the powerful South Sudanese politicians are
members of the fractured SPLM Party and so the power is divided among
the SPLM factions. Since the SPLM is the most popular and the most
powerful South Sudanese political entity, and since the current South
Sudan conflict is a result of the SPLM Party infighting and rivalry,
you cannot solve the South Sudanese conflict without bringing together
the SPLMs who disagreed in 2013.
The party leaders have never been peaceful to each other since the
inception of the party in 1983 as a political and military movement.
Leaders who felt humiliated either defect to form their own party, or
run internal resistance. As the saying goes "when elephants fight it
is the grass that suffers", when the SPLM leaders disagree, the victim
is the South Sudanese citizen. And the South Sudanese citizen will
still have to wait for a solution from the SPLM leaders despite being
the reason for the suffering.
Although there are voices who disagree with the fact that the SPLM
will be the solution, there are many who resonate with the sentiment.
The fact that the powerful figures of the nation are from the SPLM,
compels the South Sudanese people to run after the SPLM party either
against the party in times of war or in support of the party in times
of peace.
The 1991 SPLM split killed thousands of South Sudanese and displaced
millions of South Sudanese. And for the suffering of the South
Sudanese to be called off, the SPLM factions who disagreed in 1991 had
to agree in 2002 to come together to embrace peace and had to unify
their vision for the South for them to agree.
A rebellion against Dr John Garang by Salva Kiir was called off after
Dr Machar offered to negotiate almost after the rebellion could take
effect in 2004 so as to avoid humanitarian crisis and to preserve the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that gave the South the right to
self-determination to decide by January 2011 to either break away or
remain under one, but reformed Sudan.
Dr John Garang and Salva Kiir agreed to come together to embrace peace
so unwanted humanitarian crisis should not be experienced by the South
Sudanese people as the nation close-in to witness the signing of the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Naivasha Kenya. As Dr John Garang
said in an interview with the Egyptian journalist, Ahmed Seed, that
"The SPLM, as the name explains, depends on the Sudanese people", the
South Sudanese people have been the food basket for the SPLM. For the
whole 21 years of struggle, the SPLM got the food for its military
from food collected, either by the will of the citizen or by force of
the arm, from the people of South Sudan.
Dr Lam Akol Ajawin, the former Chairman of the SPLM for Democratic
Change who fled South Sudan to form the SPLM-DC faction of the SPLM in
2009 had to return to South Sudan to share government with the SPLM
faction led by Salva Kiir after independence.
This conflict going on in South Sudan will never be ended with one
faction of the SPLM factions being excluded. For the government of
Salva Kiir’s SPLM-IG faction to bring this war to an end, it MUST
accept to embrace other factions of the SPLM Party without exceptions.
As the SPLM was the problem the SPLM will be the solution for a
genuine peace to take effect.
Let the SPLM leaders unite their visions like they did in 2002 so the
suffering of the South Sudanese people is thwarted.
Tor Madira Machier is a South Sudanese Columnist living in Cairo,
Egypt. He can be reached through his email: [email protected] or
at his blog: tormachier.blogspot.com
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