Pagan Amum and his Group are Political Animals
3 min readBy Dhor Aher,
This is a typical Pagan Amum trying to catapult himself into spotlight since it is frames as rivalry between President Kiir and Rebel Leader Dr. Riek Machar. Honorable Pagan Amum, makes no mistake is a good orator, charismatic, and visionary to certain extend. Pagan’s big “baggy” is lack of organizational skills as we have seen with the way he managed the SPLM party for the last couple of years.
As secretary General, he failed to realign the vision of the SPLM to reflect its place in the Independent South Sudan. Secondly, he mismanaged SPLM finance, ironically, the SPLM’s account is in good standing because it is the ruling party in government. Thirdly, he had difficult time translating SPLM’s visions into viable policies in the government. Fourthly, the party alienated intellectuals particularly the young people into the leadership cadets. Fifthly, he put his political ambitions a head of the wellbeing of the country and the SPLM party.
Those are just some of the cases against Honorable Pagan Amum, and should it come to the real politicking, then it will not be like walking to the park for Honorable Pagan Amum.
Now on the substances of his recent letter, “Open Letter: SPLM Former Political Detainees Are ‘Decided,’ Not ‘Undecided”, which seems to be sending shocks to both the warring parties. Pagan Amum, and his Groups are political animals, and their goal is to kill bilateral negotiation for them to have a place at the table. Whether that is a viable alternative, I will leave it for analyst, but personally I believe having inclusive political dialogue is the best political cushion for the ordinarily South Sudanese who might not have a place at the table.
We have already seen some unofficial responses from the rebel’s side because for them, it is a “stab on the back” given their initial refusal to sign ceasefire without releasing of all the “political detainees” knowing they will be part of their cause. Secondly, the diversity of the group in term of tribal, loyalty to the SPLM would have boosted their cause particularly for a rebellion still struggling to have a “national outlook”.
What this means for the government is a sigh of relief because they denounced the violence, and will play crucial role in preaching peace which is what the government wants. On the flip side, it is another headache for the government because these are smarts, more organized, and well-connected in terms of friends in the international community where they will have a listening hear in deciding the future of the country.
Also, their existence outside there will put final nail on the government already struggling message to present what happened as a coup. Thirdly, they will have informal meetings with both commissions of inquiries, the United Nations Commissions, and African Unions Commission, and it will make some people in the government not comfortable. Also, not only is the government facing an interim government with only rebel factions, but with these groups as part of the power sharing formula.
Lastly, should the international community succeeded in the government without two warring leaders, then they seem to be the only organized group politically to benefit from that scenario since the opposition parties are “swallowed” by the government.
#Dhor‘s Political Antidote
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