OUR NATIONAL PARLIAMENT IS OUR NATIONAL PROBLEM

By John Sunday Martin

“We elected and mandated them to go and represent us;
but then they failed us as they turn to represent their individual
political parties. Our parliamentarians have disgraced us and
therefore, they are part of our problems as nation.”

May 1, 2015 (SSB)  —-   Our nation is infiltrated with spirit of evilness and every bad thing seems to be happing under our very roof, starting with corruptions, systematic abuse of power, and the pathetic state of human rights. Even our parliamentarians have also developed another negative concept – circa the ideology of the political representation.

If your conscience is just and right then you will be disappointed in situation where your political representatives have turned the People’s House (Parliament) as a club for promoting, supporting and protecting SPLM and her leadership – in every unappreciative business in the Nation – while not presenting our problem as constituency.

Our political representative that we elected and mandated to represent us in the National or State parliament, they rebelled against us now because of their moral corruptions and so we are in trouble – with no one to listen to us or voice our concerns.

They have turned to support SPLM and they all do this in the name of the SPLM as political Party, Patriotism, and even for favor and rewards; and therefore, the question is whether our very own Parliamentarians were elected by the SPLM, or the People in their constituencies; More so, to wonder whether they were elected by the people to present SPLM or constituencies.

This pathetic ideology by the Country’s legislators is a major cause of all the failures of this nation, because of some serious National political challenges, which has to do with:-

First; Good Governance and Rule of Law which is referred to,

1)As systematic process of decision making and process by which decision are implemented (or not implemented) and this is characterized in eight amalgamations such as:-

a. Participatory,
b. Consensus orientated,
c. Accountability,
d. Transparency,
e. Responsive,
f. Effective and efficient,
g. Equitable and inclusive and,
h. That which follow / respects the law.

2)The second as the systematic principal of the administration in which all person, institution and entities, public and private including the State itself are accountable to the Law.

This means that, good governance and rule of law is the science of the politics pertaining to the government of the human society; – which is expectable and is adhering to the principal of the supremacy of the law.

Ideology of political representation – which is the deliberate representation of the society by individual in the governance system through legislative assemble (Parliament) where power to pass, amend and repeal the law for the interests and will of the people are uphold.

Therefore, good governance and rule of law as well the parliament are deliberate acts of the government which is the science of politics of governing the human society. This means that, the method of governance and even the laws chosen by the particular human society reflects the core value of the particular society, and that is what makes the society to exist. In this regard, a society which is not political well organized is a dead living society, – where it is left behind in term development and social service, as such society is boldly marginalized.

As matter of facts, social justices and socioeconomic development in general becomes difficulty for such society to achieve, and in meantime, other societies and individual in power gets opportunity to misuse and manipulate them (Such society) for their own societal or individual political and economic benefits.

To prevent such issues from existing in our World; the political logicians during the epoch of great revolutions and reformations, came up with ideology that, every human society Nationwide is expected not to be ruled but to rule themselves – through involvement in their governance systems. This inspires the creation of the legislative wing of the Government (Parliament) which is formulated by the political representatives (Members of Parliament) – to represent the people from different localities nationwide, with aims and functions:

a)To check and monitor the work of the executive and balance their power

b)To formulate policies and legislation so as to safeguard the popular will and interests of the people in different corner of the Nation;

c)To Represent the popular will, choice and interests of the people in decision making process in the Legislative House

d)To ensure that, the Government of the people is run free and fair for the benefits of the entire citizen

e)To prevent the individual people in power positions (especial the executive) from imposing their individual political and economic interests on the Nation; and to refrain them (Executive) from abusing the State and Office.

However, it is most unfortunately that, South Sudan’s parliamentarians becomes a great disenchantment to the people of this great Nation; which is bringing prospection of South Sudan to the dimming as results of their (Parliamentarians) malfunctions; as they have turned their mandates and functions to support and protect the policies of the SPLM as political Party; as well as interests of the individual leadership of the SPLM in the Executive.

The political dogma and impiety of the nation’s parliamentarians is positioning the Country in the shameful state – where good governance and rule of law is disappearing, and is reproducing systematic human rights violations, corruptions, insecurity threats, and lack of social development and social services deliverance for the Nation.

South Sudan is no longer becoming democratic State because in any democratic States, the Parliament remain the power house of Government and therefore, there is no subject in the sphere of the internal Government on which the Parliament cannot legislate; there is no existing law and policies that it cannot repeal; there is no unwritten undertaking of the executives (Presidency and ministers) that it is compelled to honor; and there is no court of law that can declare its’ decisions illegal.

This is because parliament is the representative house that represents the popular will and interests of the citizens, and this gives power to the Parliament to question and hold any person in power position, including the President of the republic accountable; of course, not only that, but also with power to impeach the President and declare any decision of the President illegal.

In realization of the power of the parliament, in comparison of the state of governance and rule law in south Sudan, and high level of corruptions by the executives. It becomes great disappointment because the parliament is failing to protect the Nation from the autocracy.

De facto, the South Sudan’s Parliament is the source of the Nation’s problems and therefore, reformation in the Parliament is the only tool to enhance good governance and rule of the law that the country is losing under SPLM; Reformation of the Parliament is the only mean to eradicate massive corruptions, injustices and dictatorship; the reformation in the Parliament is the only mean to hold the Nation’s Executives accountable, and to bring about national Peace, Security and Development.

This reformation means, the South Sudan Parliament needs new blood of patriotism and unselfish individuals – who will put the interests and the will of the Country (Citizen) first, than his or her own will and interests; and even that of his or her Party.

South Sudan needs change in order to restore the nation’s Hope and this change will only be manifested if we as nation from every constituency have developed positive spirit of not sending people to represents us in Parliament on the bases of their political parties, but their spirit of patriotism, and ability to credible represent our problems, as well defend our rights; even if that, may have implications on him from the opposing forces. That will only happen when we fresh blooded political leaders in the Parliament in order to bring the real change the Country demands; and those are the leaders with spirit of new revolution that our society demands.

The establishment of Parliament is not only the act of democracy, but functional democracy in any society and therefore, by Democracy, we are meaning the form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.

If the above prescriptions can fall within the function of our parliament and democracy; why is it that, we are not having that functional democracy in the Country? As matter of facts, we have a parliament in a place and we have chosen representative form of democracy where we as a nation can elect our representative, why is it that we are not being effective represented and as result there is a national outcry?

The problems are because of the moral corruptions that have destroyed the spirit of consciousness and integrity in us. because of our moral corruptions, we elects people who are moral corrupted not only to lead, but to represent us in political atmosphere and even if things are not going well, we cannot take that decision to say enough is enough to them and have them replaced by new blood of leadership as if we are bewitched.

Therefore, to address some of our pathetic state of affairs in south Sudan, it will not only have to be the matter of regime change but also building self-integrity and spirit of consciousness to stimulate us not to compromise our rights for other individual’s interests through political and economical manipulations. It should be our credo to not allow those who are moral corrupted to get our mandates for them to not only to represent, but also not lead us – even if they are our very own brothers.

A brother who is greed and selfish, is not your true brother because he will only thinks of himself and therefore, you will die of hunger while they have food and will never give you. We are dying of poverty related problems such as hunger, thirst and other treatable sickness not because we do not have resources to address of crucial poverty problems, but because of our greed and selfish politicians.

Our parliament can play a major role to bring good governance and rule of law to enhance socio justices and social services deliverance and eradication of mass poverty in our society but this can only happen if those in the parliament are credible and patriots who cannot betray their constituency as well the nation for their own individual interests.