» | Sudanow Magazine

Khartoum (Sudanow) Government officials have more than once vowed not to change the schedule of the national elections, billed for April 2015, regardless of several outcries, mainly from opposition parties, to postpone them until a national concord is reached. By the result, many political forces, including the National Umma Party (NUP) and the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP), had decided they would boycott the process, if their view were not accommodated.

This situation is reminiscent of the 2005 national elections which were held in fulfillment of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government and the former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) that ended the war in Southern Sudan. At that time many political forces, including these two parties, also chose to stand aside and the apparently uncontested National Congress Party (NCP) and its leader, President Omar al-Bashir scored a sweeping victory.

Important as the next April scheduled elections are, it is noticeable however that the accompanying and preceding political activities that include public lectures, organizations, and forums, political gathering, are very scanty indeed.

However, recently a symposium was organized by the Centre for Enlightenment on “the Role and Future of Political Parties”, which was addressed by Political Science Professor Hamad Omar al-Hawi, Political Science Professor cum Columnist Professor Abdullatif al-Booni and others.

Dr al-Hawi has considered party politics a crucial factor in the life of developing nations where the state is a major player in the building of the society, the achievement of national unity and the integration and orchestration of collective action of the public, contrary to the situation in Western nations where other mechanisms such as the civil society organizations and established conventions and traditions do the job. This is because in developing nations, Sudan no exception, party politics is not a home-grown practice.

Nobody can imagine a democratic system without political parties, argues Dr. Hawi, and whenever these parties are banned or confiscated, like what occurred in Sudan several times before, no viable alternative could emerge. A military regime or a one-party system is contradictory to the notion of democracy and pluralism. The term ‘’party” semantically signifies “part’’ and there is no ‘’part’’ without the existence of other parts.

That is why when parties are cancelled, other mechanisms are sought to support the government. This could be an authoritarian power of a military establishment, a one party, a tribe or a religious sect.

To build feasible political parties in the Third World countries, there is need for the creation of a highly enlightened social environment, simply because parties are based on programmes which, accordingly, require public readiness to understand what is said.

If we look at the Third World countries, we find that more than 80% of the public are illiterate, and this hinders the role of political parties. Parties and party politics also need liberties to flourish and in Sudan we lacked this freedom for long periods. Also in Sudan community and the family dictate everything and the individual tends to make of his offspring a mere copy of his/her own self.

The creation of political parties is a good idea for political practice, but the states of affairs do govern the behavior of these parties. And whenever we find that our parties are weak and plagued with problems, people should figure out that the problem rests with the society rather than with the parties. Political parties are but a reflection of the society.

For political parties to function well and go forward, the society itself should be cohesive. That is why we should never separate the future of the political parties from the future and culture of the society. One should not criticize the parties, but should, rather, criticize the society that begets them. That is because, as a society, we are inflicted with severe divisions and fail to give a majority vote for a single party which could, accordingly, deliver on its declared programme all by itself. By the result, each of our parties needs to enter into shaky coalitions with other parties.

Accordingly, asserts Dr. al-Hawi, the society cannot and should not blame the political parties for shortcomings, because it did not give them a true mandate to rule and achieve. If the Sudanese voters do give a political party, say a 70% lead in the elections, then it could blame it for any failure. A society which is divided ethnically, intellectually, and religiously as such could never but produce weak parties. If tribal, sectarian and religious criteria are ruled out from the choice of our leaders, then we could look for more healthy political parties. For Sudanese parties to be strong and move forward there is need for ample time, more democratic exercises and more elections. By so doing a higher public awareness, is surely guaranteed.

Ever since our independence, in 1956 none of our parties had completed its term of office. The parties are, thus, left to tackle their mistakes all by themselves. But if Sudan had had longer periods of democratic rule, the public could have been able to judge on and reform the parties. Had Sudan had longer democratic periods, our parties could have flourished and could have managed to implement their programmes. Moreover, the Sudanese people should have been more patient with the political parties and partisan practice. These short periods of democratic rule had forced parties to keep historical leaders in office. Accordingly, it could be noted that the NUP had kept its leader Sadik al-Mahdi at the helms for five decades. Similarly did the Democratic Unionist Party with its leader Mohammad Osman al-Mirghani and so is doing the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) with its leader, President Omar al-Bashir. That is because the parties are operating in an unnatural atmosphere. Because the atmosphere is unnatural, the practice would be far from perfect. Every party sticks to its symbolic leader for fear of losing its following if it does away with him.

“The situation is critical …we are surrounded with problems .. we fear the party could disintegrate’’. These are the arguments put for keeping the historic leaders. That is because their parties are undergoing an unnatural situation. There are conflicts within the parties ..There is absence of democratic practice that could have allowed the partiers to develop leaderships.

In the past the NUP had certain closed districts. But when the National Islamic Front (NIF) came with its slogan “ No allegiance but to Allah’’, the NUP amended its slogans and programmes opting for the “Islamic awakening” to keep its following. Had this intellectual struggle continued, all parties could have benefited and moved forward. One cannot ban a party or chase it out of politics and then expect it to promote its programmes and platforms. It is the party’s ability to freely address the public that allows them to advance.

The absence of political parties from the political scene obliges the government to address the society through a religious or tribal leader. By so doing, the government could enforce tribalism and sectarianism. And for the public to directly deal with the government they form a delegation that comes to the Republican Palace as representing a tribe or district and are received by the President to whom they express allegiance. And then they would request the President to appoint one of their clan members to a ministerial post or so under the pretext that “we are marginalized.. the previous governments did us nothing and so on..’’

By the result one discovers that tribalism and regionalism are the by product of the central authority. But as it goes without saying, one cannot apply a genuine democratic system without its genuine democratic mechanisms i.e. the political parties that operate freely. That is the mistake central authorities had been committing ever since Sudan gained its independence in 1956.

For his part Prof. al-Booni has maintained that, other than political parties, political thought of modern times has no any alternative for peaceful exchange of power, organization or popular participation. “Political parties are the best choice of the many other bad alternatives for government,’’ he said. However, parties can be improved and empowered to do the job in a suitable manner, he said

“Participation is the ultimate objective of politicians. Everybody wants to participate. There are parties that have managed to participate.. there are others who are on their way towards participation,’’ he said.

He said Sudan had sought to import political parties as a new idea and as a new perspective and implant them in a largely traditional environment. And to do so, big parties were centered on Sudan’s largest religious or tribal groupings. The leader of the bigger party would approach a tribal or religious leader with a win-win offer: “I will support your party albeit I name my representative .. or you name your representative whom I approve of on condition that you never interfere with my following’’.

Here comes the representative and not the participatory form of rule. Then came the three military regimes that finished with the central political leaderships. That had ensued a semi-destroyed partisan structure : Yes, destroyed but existing !

Dr.al-Booni has, however, cited some positives in Sudan’s partisan experiment: It has precipitated a partisan culture .The people came to know that there are things called parties ..There is yearning for partisanship. This tendency still exists ..By the result, if we want to revive partisan life we can do this with less effort than did the first generations. That is because parties, as an idea, still exist compared to the case of other countries that had never had a taste of pluralism.

Partisan activity in Sudan is at its lowest at the moment, says al-Booni. And if we suppose that a free and fair election, which is internationally monitored , is organized under an interim government, the result may not be the same as in 1986 when such an election was organized. For instance, the NUP had won all the Darfur constituencies save three which were won by the NIF. The NUP had also won all the White Nile constituencies, save one. Now can the NUP collect the same seats with the developing situations and the emerging new leaderships? And if the ruling NCP, just like the situation of any party running a government, loses the government financial and political empetus it enjoys then, will it be in position to secure similar victory?

The same questions: can be asked about the NUP that won 62 seats in 1986.

So what had happened? What had happened is that tribalism had flourished. For instance, the Jezira State that had never tasted a geographic coalition is now building its own political platform known as the Jezira Movement. Three most aggressive articles were written of late that deplored the hegemony of the three northern tribes that now rule the Sudan. The writers of these three articles could , however, be disgruntled Islamists…who knows?

So , the alternative for political parties is now visible on the horizon: geography and tribe.

The idea of the forces of the periphery propagated by former SPLM leader John Garang is now a long throw because for every periphery in Sudan there is now a periphery, argues al-Booni. It is no longer viable, although some of its proponents are still armed and fighting. It is the periphery within a periphery that caused the current war in Southern Sudan. The forces of the periphery are leaving room for geography and tribe in their smallest forms.

However, there is no problem with tribalism, maintains Dr. al-Booni. Tribalism is as old as mankind. And before the modern state the tribe was the medium entity between the state and the citizen. In Sudan we had the Fur, the Musabbaat, Tagali, and the Funj kingdoms which stood on tribal legs. The tribe was an interim unit before the modern state, a unit that takes care of the citizen, defines and provides his needs and protects him through norms and traditions.

Dr. al-Booni has considered the 1927 native administration act as a setback inflicted on the Sudan by the colonial power, Britain. Similarly the 1970 decision by the then President Nimeri which dissolved the native administration was a grave mistake because it created a big vacuum. Also, the recent return to the native administration was even a bigger mistake.

He, al-Booni, adds that political practices could not cause tribalism to vanish altogether. The state confiscation of tribal lands was unjustified. And when it did so, there remained the emotional affiliation: I am a Jaali, I am a Rizaigi, Messairi etc.. There is no problem in this… it is just a tribe and a citizen with no responsibility towards his tribe. So, any attempt to revive the native administration would be a setback.

A summation of al-Booni’s thoughts:

- The parties that exist now are dysfunctional because of lack of practice. However, they are necessary for participation in government with the very little they have. At least they can use their historical organizational heritage and the personalities they embody to keep the political life going. And if certain remedies are applied, the party politics can become stronger.

- The lack of political practice is the cause of the current tribalism and regionalism.

- He proposes the cancellation of the present division of the states and a return to the previous six-region formula.

- He also proposes the cancellation of the post of district (locality) commissioner and the return to the administrative officers system, because the commissioners system had nurtured tribalism.

- Elections-wise Sudan should be treated as one constituency, whereby proportional representation is applied in order to guarantee a fair representation of the regions in parliament and in the central administration. This can also strengthen the parties, weaken tribalism and take all, or most, political parties on board.

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YH/ AS

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