The Crossroad Politics and Dying of Democracy in South Sudan (Part 2)
By David Matiop Gai, Juba, South Sudan
February 17, 2018 (SSB) –- We are seeing the challenges to democracy in our daily basis, because days are going and difficult aspects of governance rise of changes against democracy but the cases and issues of South Sudanese leaders attempting to retain power above unconstitutional or uncontrolled have attack human rights abuses, blockage of civil liberties, and the freedom of press as well as many other principles and pillars of democracy.
Our democracy is totally backsliding, because the government where representative of constituencies of citizens supposed to respect the fundamental rights of their citizens, social rights, and equality, and because of war, the government failed to maintained checks and balance among executives, parliament, and judiciary while our civil population to strengthen democracy in South Sudan failed to see their roles and objectives. And the most difficult parts of democracy in South Sudan are how to tackle corruption and rule of law since the establishment of South Sudan government in 2005.
In part one of this article, somebody who thought maybe I am against the government and he wrote to me in series of parables, telling me things which he could think he is the most loyal citizen of South Sudan to the government than me and he did not search my background, these are people I always terms as new comers when we achieved fruits of the bush era, and they are who did not taste the pain of twenty-one years, they found themselves on food cook for them, and he thinks about last he is the right citizen for the government than me but I am not against the government, friend, I am a veteran.
I am here explaining how crossroad politics and dying democracy in South Sudan is affecting social rights which is beyond political parties and representative of constituencies, because our role as citizens and the role of every politician is to protect democracy in all aspects of corruption, and dark money politics, inequality and injustice play by anti-democracies. Others thought is that if they see the name ‘government’ in issues related to state affairs, then somebody or the writer is against a government, no, this is a lack of analytical views and low education.
There is nobody who may be against a government under government premises. Or there is no specific person who the government apart from groups of people or people living in the country. This should be very clear to those who check articles. Anyway, let me continue with my article.
South Sudan democracy is at the crossroad puts politics of social exclusions and inclusions at risks because social democracy which is not even in America remains as the fundamental pillar of democracy. All political parties in South Sudan are stakeholders of politics in South Sudan democracy. The mains challenges of democracy South Sudan are mechanisms of uniting various families’ political parties who are basing their political objectives on tribal agendas rather than national agendas and using fake methods by not realising true democracy in South Sudan because political parties are vehicles for power shift in connection to democratically tool and politics of the ruling party.
The question is, will SPLM be a sign or a formula as a strategy of reunification of the country after the civil war? If for sure political parties in South Sudan, the way I see them and I become a politician to serve as veritable tool which democracy vested its lifespan in it, I am seeing other political parties are destroying SPLM life history so that the ruling part vanish in the mind of South Sudanese people as a historic party. Other parties want to destroy SPLM and begin new history from zero level.
But political party or parties in a country encourage peace and stability of the governing process because if one party is elected today, and tomorrow another party struggle to fixed terms of an election since country belongs to all. The government in power knows its lifespan in the corridors of power and the opposition parties are the side mirror for the ruling party but they should not regard themselves, enemies. Both government and opposition parties should work alongside political unity but not as crossroad politics as such in South Sudan.
Federalism is the only political system that brings or creates divisions and diversity. And through this processing power shift into problems of dividing societies and spread all over. This federal system engulfed South Sudan political lifecycle, and the debate is so hot to the extent of tribal favourism as some of the self-appointed godfathers vowed that unless you are from an ethnic groups, you cannot be elected to South Sudan offices because what is happening is methodologies of crossroad politics and dying democracy as problematics of tribes and that are sixty-four tribes in the country.
Power sharing conceptualized certain perspectives in national politics. Some may think, warring parties are the only patterns of power-sharing, but the concept of power sharing in various perspectives as a process in which political posts are shared among elected and appointed civilians to a neutralized escalation of violence in the country. The representatives and decision-making abilities on society care common degree while power sharing is a path break through different coalitions of democracy to the majoritarian of democracy by generally inclusive of all major ethnic groups.
The headache of crossroad politics to body politics is a dying democracy and handling party politics with different political thoughts, political liberties, political philosophy, ideologies, political experiences, manifestoes, and national constitutions. All these serve with policies’ guidelines and principles in the area of democracy in South Sudan if the mechanism to manage problems in Presidency among majority ethnic groups is the democracy. Another critical in pursuing the principles of justice, equality, and fairness, all the parties shall adapt policy of democracy for peaceful rotation in public elective office shall be enforced by appreciating rules that will not undermine democracy.
Democracy supporter in South Sudan face the tough time and it is so hard to confronting political war. Attacking President Salva Kiir with conflict and war like his boss Dr. John Garang during bush as it is now happening from the infant stage in young country delaying the true exercise of democracy. The goal for winning an election has no room to improve democratic good governance, and nobody has to blame than political parties whose aims are to fight the war and challenge the international linkages for achieving the sustainable development goal.
Democracy is dying not only in South Sudan but the system of governance for liberal democracy, and the ideal to self-government has pushed back socialism, communism, and freedom for people to govern themselves while human beings are advancing more evils in that freedom. If such behaviors of power hungry are growing wild and more divisive at these hours, than how will South Sudan of thirty years to come look like?
The author is a co-founder of South Sudan Mental Healthcare Organization, (SSMHCO). He holds Bachelor degree in Social Work and Social Administration from SSCUST, Bachelor of Theology from CLT, Bungoma, Kenya/Kalispell, USA, and a fellow researcher. He can be reached at david.matiopgai@gmail.com
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