The President Has Delivered "...the new cabinet reflects the rich diversity of the country in terms of regional, gender and ethnic representation. " 30 August 2011 By Nhial T. Tutlam*
GURTONG - Politicians quite often engage in lofty rhetoric making grandiose promises they know they can’t and in some cases don’t intend to keep, unnecessarily raising the hopes and expectations of the public. But with the announcement of the first ever cabinet of the brand new nation last Friday, the president delivered on his promise to form an inclusive government. Until the new cabinet was officially unveiled, the great fear and expectation was that the president would stick to the usual rule of allocating the lion’s share of the most important ministerial positions to the president’s village mates, sadly a common practice on the continent. These fears were not without merit. During the six years of the interim period some communities felt that they were shutout of the leadership of the country, with a particular community controlling the levers of power. Moreover, a narrative began to develop that some people were the sole liberators of the country and were therefore more deserving of the leadership than others. Many people began to feel that the tragic history of marginalization by the Arabs that we all fought against for so long was beginning to rear its ugly head into the political dispensation in South Sudan, and would surely entrench itself in the new country, before the dust from the euphoric celebration of independence even settled, if the country continued with the status quo. The reality, though, is that things were slightly different at the beginning of the interim period. When the president first assumed power in 2005, after the sudden death of the late leader, Dr. John Garang, he managed to bring together South Sudanese from across the political spectrum and even those that were at the time engaged in hostilities with SPLM/A. The president was rightly applauded for setting a reconciliatory tone and his efforts to bring about peace and unity among Southerners. It is fair to say that the unity among South Sudanese that he helped forge allowed his government to focus all attention on the implementation of the CPA and the common enemy in the North and greatly contributed to the achievement of the ultimate prize: independence. Somehow, that spirit of oneness got lost somewhere in the middle. As many news outlets have pointed out, in an obvious attempt by the president to placate the populace, the new cabinet reflects the rich diversity of the country in terms of regional, gender and ethnic representation. And gauging the reaction to the formation of the new government, the president appears to have succeeded in rekindling that spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood among South Sudanese of all political stripes that prevailed at the dawn of his leadership. Now, the challenge will be nurturing and maintaining this unity of purpose going forward. The president’s choice of who serves in the first cabinet gives us great insight into his thinking in terms of what he wants for the country and what he wants his legacy to be when he is long gone. Perhaps the most important thing we can glean from his decisions, at this early stage in the history of the republic, is that the president wants all communities to fully participate in laying the foundations and shaping the future of the country. We can also confidently conclude that the president would like to go down in history as the leader who restored unity among the people of South Sudan and set the country on the path to greatness by putting in place conditions conducive for greater cooperation and development in the country. Actions speak louder than words, and this his actions to form an inclusive government are steps in the right direction. A few weeks ago I wrote a column entitled The Best Gift the President Can Give the Nation, suggesting that one of the best things the president can do is to leave behind a country with strong democratic institutions where ten or twenty years from now elections will not be a source of controversy and chaos. By emphasizing fairness and inclusiveness in his first cabinet, the president has put in place the ingredients necessary for the establishment of government of and for all South Sudanese that will respond and adapt to their democratic aspirations. This bodes well for both his legacy and the future of this young nation. Although some important political commentators have scoffed at the size of the cabinet (29 ministers and 27 deputy ministers) and the fact that many in the lineup are the same old faces, there appears to be a broad consensus that many of them are competent individuals who will serve the people well. The new team must, however, realize that the hopes, dreams and indeed the fate of an entire nation rests in their hands and will have to put forth their best efforts in the service of the country we all love. Failure to do so will have disastrous repercussions for generations to come. Regardless of how one feels about the new cabinet, I think that we should support the president and his new team and give them a chance to institute and implement policies that will lead our beloved nation to greater stability and prosperity. *Nhial Tutlam currently lives in Saint Louis, MO and works at Washington University School of Medicine as a Research Coordinator. Posted in: Opinions CommentsThere are currently no comments, be the first to post one. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. 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