SPLM power struggle may hurt young nation, experts warn
On July 23, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit issued a decree dismissing his longtime vice president, Riek Machar Teny, along with all the ministers and deputy ministers in his cabinet, practically dissolving South Sudan’s national government.
Kiir also suspended Pagan Amum, the Secretary-General of South Sudan’s ruling political party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). Reports suggest that 17 brigadier generals have also been removed from their posts.
The decree read on national television late Tuesday evening, July 23, stems from tensions rising since South Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar told the media he seeks to take over as the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Chairperson, thus challenging his boss, President and SPLM Chairperson Salva Kiir.
Don’t be angry that Riek should be removed or Salva should be removed.”
But experts warned that internal spats could hurt the fragile young nation.
Don’t be angry that Riek should be removed or Salva should be removed […]. If you do, you are digging your deep grave,” warned Kenya’s Ex-minister of Public Service Dalmas Otieno ahead of Kiir’s decree.
Speaking at a lecture in Juba he suggested that South Sudan should learn from Kenya which in 2007 entered into one of its worst historic conflicts due to a power struggle. Thousands of lives were lost, property worth millions was destroyed during weeks of fighting.
Similarly, he said, South Sudan, which has spent many decades in civil war, faced serious risks if power struggles got out of control. He advised leaders to respect the laws they had passed, stressing that the unity of the country should be the overall goal.
Jok Majok Jok, Acting Minister of Culture and Sport and Co-Founder of the Sudd Institute, November 17, 2012.
Machar’s ambition to take over the party’s top position has jangled nerves in South Sudan, although it was not new to those closely following the party’s internal affairs said Jok Madut Jok, Undersecretary in South Sudan’s Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and co-founder of the South Sudanese think-tank, the SUDD Institute.
This political dispute is not surprising to people who are watching the affairs closely or tracking the history,” he said.
He blamed divisions on pressure from citizens who urgently need food and basic services. Meanwhile, power struggles are intensified ahead of the 2015 general elections. Madut added that the current clashes reflect a lack of solid organisation of the political sphere from the onset of independence in 2011.
Madut sees the current dispute as a serious threat” to the country’s political development. We can only hope that our political leaders do not use ethnic division as their way to settle the issue. If they continue to exercise restrain then we can avoid the possibility of confrontation along tribal lines. So it is a clear threat but avoidable,” he said.
Sources say that Machar’s interest in challenging the president appears to be the reason for the postponement of the party's convention until next year.
This political dispute is not surprising to people who are watching the affairs closely or tracking the history.”
Raising the political temperature, SPLM Secretary General Pagan Amum, criticised the president over a decision to suspend two of the government ministers over alleged fraud.
Kosti Manibe, South Sudan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, and Deng Alor, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs, were suspended in June following allegations that they were involved in a nearly 8 million US Dollars scandal.
His outspokenness has been criticised: He is the Secretary General of the party. If he sees things that are not done well he needs to keep the party together […]. Let him raise them (these issues) in the meetings,” Madut said.
Though wrangles are expected, there are fears that the party may not respect democratic principles -- thus creating a stumbling block for the fledgling political system in the new nation.
Pagan Amum, Secretray General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), July 25, 2011.
I think it is worrying,” said Edmond Yakani, Programme Coordinator of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO), a national human rights organisation.
He warned that the nation’s population would bear the brunt of the latest tension: When these wrangles get worse, at the end of the day it is the citizens who suffer.”
Riek Machar Teny became the first Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan after the country gained independence two years ago.
However, the young country’s violent recent history is seen as a hurdle to its democratic development. After all, such concepts are new in a country which spent decades fighting the Sudanese government in Khartoum.
The conflictive situation worsened following the Sudanese 2010 elections when several of the party’s senior members took to bush and took arms against the party-led government. One leader was Gen. George Athor who lost his life early last year.
A more recent threat comes with the rebel David Yau Yau. Once a SPLM loyalist, he took to the bush after failing to win the 2010 parliamentary elections, accusing the SPLM of vote rigging.
The violence in Jonglei State is seen as a serious threat to South Sudan. Earlier this year, the United Nations warned that Yau Yau’s activities are likely to turn into a national threat unless government doubles efforts to solve the problem.
When these wrangles get worse, at the end of the day it is the citizens who suffer.”
For now, all eyes are on Kiir to see how he handles South Sudan’s teething troubles. Yakani sees the current conflict as an important test whether the country could manage an honourable peaceful means of government transformation from one single individual to another”.
He continued: If, as individuals, the SPLM do not respect democratic principles the probability is that such undemocratic attitudes are reflected in public institutions.”
According to the South Sudan Constitutional requirement, the fledgling state is expected to hold its first general elections in 2015 after a national census is completed in 2014.
