Open Letter
H. E. Ato Hailemariam Dessalegn,
The Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and;
The Current Chairperson of the IGAD
Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
By Lual Mark,
Opinion
June 16, 2014(Nyamilepedia) — The purpose of this letter is to urge you to call off the verbal attacks uttered by the IGAD, regional bloc’s leaders over the last few days, in which they called the South Sudanese leaders on both sides of the S. Sudanese civil war “Stupid”. I demand your immediate and unconditional public condemnation of the utterance against these great leaders of our nation at Addis Ababa peace talks meetings by Mr. (Eng.) Mahboub M. Maalim, the IGAD’s SG whose country was caught up in an ethnic cleansing which was in a similar passion mediated by an external mediator but their leaders never been called names. These leaders, esp., the President, the coat of arms, the national anthem and the local currency means our national symbols by insulting them you are insulting my country-don’t do that.
I also require your acknowledgement that anyone who opposes your policies has the right to make their reasons heard through, and ask critical questions about your proposals. This should be accompanied by a public commitment by every member of the IGAD, to make ample space available for all these peace talks, which should be conducted only at the absolute free will of South Sudanese citizens. Your organization also owes an apology for some of your members being caught red handed with the atrocities committed against our innocent civil population. I condemn this “anti-South Sudan” by those who call themselves our friends and mediators, based solely on their appearance, and her disagreement with the content of our leaders ideologies.
I have to, furthermore, denounce the resonance of the same utterance by the Ugandan parliamentarians and claim they were wiser than us when they fought with our rebels, the Lord’s Resistance Army, and couldn’t afford to save the lives of the poor Ugandans and when our former Prime Minister who are calling stupid, tried to reconcile your leaders on a peaceful flat form you failed miserably, and he didn’t call the Ugandan leaders stupid.
I are certain you understand the desire of the leaders to ask hard questions about the proposed transitional government programs, designed to nationalize peace process. These leaders are not only concerned about skyrocketing formulas, and the political restructuring the relationship betIen South Sudanese and their government… they are justifiably concerned about their people whom they lead.
Maximizing democratization–in South Sudanese history – must be debated in the most solemn manner, for as long as necessary to consider every aspect of this proposal, and their long-term impact. Simple common sense shows us that it would be absurd to advocate for something in a limited audients. This is the behavior of a crook, not a statesman – and it is an insult to democracy, which relies upon the informed consent of the concerned citizens. Political cannot exist without room for reason and deliberation, along with accurate information, freely provided.
Measures such as restricting peace access to all the stake holders by the hand-picked groups of supporters of the SPLMs (SPLM-O, SPLM, SPLM-D), or canceling them(other Parties) altogether, do not create an atmosphere of informed deliberation. Targeting the vast majority of S. Sudanese political who have expressed disagreement with the SPLMs’plans, by listening to only one party coordinate the peace talks according to its(SPLM) will –increasingly, amplify SPLM’s dictatorial hold on S. Sudanese politics, the rest of the parties who are denied access these would the implementation process difficult if they are not involved.
I understand this is a difficult time for you and your group. Persuading people is much more difficult because of the extend of the violent that reached in this meaningless war. The more your agenda requires defeating large segments of the S. Sudanese public, instead of persuading them, the more it is destined to failure. You could begin a reneId effort at persuasion by using one of your frequent updates to explain exactly how your transitional proposals are justifiably solutions to our national crisis, which I have, agreed to uphold and obey. Such an explanation would be very informative for a public that has not received the best education about the proposed transitional government.
First and foremost, Mr. Prime Minister, you must act responsibly to end the violence that some of your members have fueled. Call a press conference, along with S. Sudanese leaders, and the leadership of the IGAD. Denounce the psychological verbal attacks and make a public commitment to free and robust debate, which will continue as long as the S. Sudanese people feel it is necessary. Apologize for the language your executive member has thoughtlessly deployed. Acknowledge that all members are your constituents, including those who have national crisis today no matter what form it takes, and renew your vow of respect and fealty to all of us.
The author, a member of United Democratic Alliance (UDA), South Sudan, can be reached at markyoh@yahoo.com
