Why 32 States has Become the Epicenter of the Deadlock over the Implementation of the ARCSS
6 min read
32 States of South Sudan
By Santino Aniek, New York, USA
Thursday, February 13, 2020 (PW) — Recent months have witnessed sequences of deadlock in negotiation between the government and the opposition and one could not help, but to ask why 32 States become the epicenter of peace negotiation. It is obvious why 32 states are become headache to Riek Machar, we all know that when the senseless war broke out in 2013, roughly half of South Sudanese were unenthusiastic to support President Kiir’s government, but after 32 states were established, President Kiir got hundred percent support because this was one his of his best signature achievement. However, Riek is thinking as always the case how he wanted to turn the table on President Kiir, for South Sudanese, now 32 states are like Medicaid to the American people, and if the government allow the opposition to win this fight, those communities who are happy with their states will turn against the government.
Now, it is safe to say that to make Riek a loser, the government must keep 32 states unscathed; otherwise he Riek will be celebrating for the rest of his life. And here is why, we all observer these couple of days of February have hurt most of the South Sudanese; the Addis Ababa peace talks have felt like a direct blow to the government supporters; and to those who dare to hope that President Kiir will not concede to the opposition. Their optimism was drained when the false news break from Addis Ababa that IGAD have approved 23 states, leaving everyone wondering and shaking what else can the government give up to the opposition.
In the past, South Sudanese have always looked up to the SPLM for guidance, but those days when the senseless war broke, they were struggling to put their full support on the government until President Kiir ink 32 States into law. To say the least, it is often believed that politics is a skill of divergent what your adversary put forward. Now, there is hope that evil should not be allowed to win for the sake of the innocence survivor of the senseless war. In fact, kindness, tolerant, accommodating, compassion, and understanding rise above, but allowing opposition to achieve their goals through blood of our innocent people and this proposal by IGAD should be a red line for the government.
This is a reminder, after a few days of consideration, government should realize where it is going wrong and in believing the news that woke up the South Sudanese 0n July 2016 was not the end of the story because Riek seem to be buying time by using 32 states as a reason to postponement the formation of the unity government, but something fishy is behind this tactic. Our people are thinking a lot as we look at the debate that took place in Addis Ababa and the issue surrounding the 32 States.
Again, many South Sudanese who did advocated for 32 States and those communities who are happy with their states, are arguing that the proposal by IGAD have crossed the line because IGAD has no mandate over a sovereignty nation. In addition, the majority argue that President Kiir has the oath he swore to the Constitution and it is more important than the frequently positions the oppositions have been fighting for.
In fact, our people have seen what transpire last week in Addis Ababa as a moment that history will mark whether President Kiir rolled over or stood up to a reckless opposition’s 23 states. As public opinion indicates, the counter argument among the South Sudanese is that such a proposal by IGAD could lead the country back to another civil war and that nothing is more important than defeating the 32 States until it is decided through referendum. Any risk of dissolving 32 states must be thought of enough and hard before rushing to implement the opposition’s thoughtless idea of 23 states.
Looking at those who support 32 states prospective, President Kiir has mandate as leader of the nation and anything shorter than 32 will be a catastrophic to the entire people of South Sudan. Nonetheless, the government and the opposition cannot erase 32 States immediately, because once they started creating something people like, they have to live with it wherever it leads to, and yes, dissolving 32 states will be worse than taking away Medicaid from American people.
As social media was outrageous during IGAD’s statement in Addis Ababa, the best thing the government and opposition can do now is to create more states than to dissolve 32 States because there is no way in hell any sound minded person would ask American people to give up their Medicaid.
Conclusively, the emergence of 32 states has received a considerable attention within the South Sudanese communities. Though, most of the attention has focused on the economic aspects of the 32 states, for example, the offering services within the state to the citizen, utilization of labor in the state, and building schools, hospitals, clinics within those states is a big those communities.
Nevertheless, the role of the state under 10 states has been neglected and since 2005 no development was seen in some of these counties that became the states under 32 states and the above mentioned are the benefits generated by this piece of legislation. In addition, these 32 states plays a role in economic growth in various ways, supplying infrastructural needs transportation and development in areas of high growth potential, and entering the economy directly in the form of state businesses.
Finally, so far President Kiir is on the side of the increasingly majority of South Sudanese who are calling for 32 States not to be dissolved. But there are many reports on social media of unrest among fellow South Sudanese arguing that President Kiir is not living up to his constitutional responsibilities and is politically tone deaf, but to me so far so good because if the government meant what their spokesman has been saying these days, then I have no doubt that this is a win-win for the people South Sudan.
Now, I will leave it to others to weigh in on the merits of this argument that say 23 states and 10 states are more better than 32 states, but something is always good when it is beneficial to human, and the supporters of this thoughtless can explain what advantage do 23 states hold over 32 states. Yet we wonder if the opposition has something else in play, we have seen the majority of South Sudanese want 32 States.
And with each day and every time we get closer to achieve peace, the opposition is still not satisfied with all the suffering they have caused to our people and this too make me wonder what does enough mean to them. Yes indeed, 32 States become the epicenter of peace negotiation because it is the reason why Riek could not toppled the government on 2013 and on 2016 and now the pressure is on the opposition.
Santino Aniek is a concern South Sudanese lived in Upstate New York, U.S.A. He can be reached at santino.aniek5@gmail.com, santino.aniek@snhu.edu Find me on Facebook, and on twitter @saniek
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