In a Nutshell: Principled Politics VS. Political Opportunism

By Chuar Juet Jock,

Feb 16, 2016(Nyamilepedia) —-There is no political problem that is impossible for the skilled politicians to defuse. However, politicians without imaginable point of agreement or meeting in the political realm can’t call themselves skilled politicians in the real sense of the word. Leadership is the essence of politics and it doesn’t matter what political color or the ideology a political party or politician do pursue, the presumed objective and the intended destination should be but leadership. Politicians are here to lead people, solve their problems, enable them to live in peace and harmony by narrowing their differences, divisions and grudges, be them political, social or ethnic based. Politicians might differ in the way they get to the seat of power and government but when they have reached there their duty and role will be the same, to lead.

My point here is that, there shouldn’t be real objective differences between our current leaders and politicians since their presumed objective is all but to lead the people of South Sudan to better present and future in term of socio-economic, cultural and political aspirations. The South Sudanese people from the general assumption are like any other nations on earth that are wishing and entitled to live in peace, stability and to get the development and prosperity they deserve regardless of whether their illiteracy rate is higher or the claim that they just got their independence, they are still entitled to good leaders and politicians that must work tirelessly together to realize the mentioned aspirations and goals.

Both our political camps are claiming patriotism, heroism and that they are all about South Sudan dignity, development, sovereignty and prosperity and hence one may wonders where then are the differences that are destroying the lives of their constituents and the few infrastructures we have inherited from Khartoum as well otherwise one of these camps or both are using such claims for political consumption and rhetoric.

Well let me speculate a bit on one of the many factors that are destroying us in Africa. This is what I term as Political opportunism and the opportunistic politics that has replaced objective and principled politics. Exploiting conflicts or creating ones to exploit is what opportunist politicians do often feed from and not only that, they make sure it is ongoing and active for them to stay in power. Apart from that, other effective ingredients of political opportunism are ethnic and religious divisions, hatred conspiracies, tribal ego or gender prejudice and domination.

The Dec. 15, 2013 was a great example of such a parasitic politics. It was an example of how tribalism is again was used to destabilize the peace and stability of another African country after Rwanda. Politicians who were left out or whose political opportunism has reached a dead end in the new era of an independent South Sudan of 2011, came at last to enter the political life again from the back door and through vicious political opportunism. Not merely the only one but the most living example among many of such kind of politics is the emergence of Jieng Council of Elders whose majority members consist of former Khartoum politicians who initially were politically dead with the successful independence of South Sudan. However, they came and in an attempt of revival, they entered the political life again from the back door, penetrating the SPLM and sabotaging it from within, rocking it from within on different beats, one for Machar camp and the other for Salva group, using tribalism, grudges of 1991 and all devilish the techniques and then setting the two men apart and the results was the what have witnessed throughout the 2013 until now.

Accordingly, and with Kiir finding himself faced by the threats of the rest of divided SPLM, he has no option but to ally himself with the necessary evil and the devils in order for him to survive and hence this was the gateway of political opportunism and opportunistic politicians who has invested heavily on blood of our people through the current crisis. Very evidenced thou, is that throughout (2013 -2016) there was not a single politician that has allied himself with Kiir in order to get a job and in the same time was telling him the truth of what is going wrong in the country, not even when their relatives were being killed at their very watch.

Well if this country has to be positioned right and into a brighter future, our political leadership needs a new approach that encourages great good values and principles and that aims on building solid foundation for tomorrow great and qualified leaders and that fights mere political opportunism which give nothing in return but except being the underpinning cause and the corrupted foundation for the socio-economic and political life and where making money through corruption and reaching to political power through opportunism and nepotism is the norm not the exception. Well such a choice is a sure dead end and not a good reputation for any country or nation to pursue.

Chuar Juet Jock is a South Sudanese entrepreneur, columnist and PhD candidate based in Omaha, Nebraska – United States. He has authored his new book “In a Nutshell: Opinions and Articles during South Sudanese Civil War (2013 -2016)”; a  powerful truth that has been injected into the body of South Sudan’s history, it unearthed the truth of the current since war started on December 15, 2013 up to this month. The book is available at Amazon.com and other online bookstores. The author can be reached through chuar.juet@gmail.com.

The statements, comments, or opinions published by Nyamilepedia are solely those of their respective authors, which do not necessarily represent the views held by the moderators of Nyamilepedia. The veracity of any claims made are the responsibility of the writer(s), and not the staff and the management of Nyamilepedia.

Nyamilepdeia reserves the right to moderate, publish or delete a post without warning or consultation with the author(s).

For Opinions and News Reports: info@nyamile.com
For Technical Support: support@nyamile.com 
To Advertise with Us: advertise@nyamile.com 
For General Inquiry: nyamilepedia@gmail.com