South Sudan’s crisis is far beyond a power struggle

On December 15, around 10 PM, heavy gun fire clashes between the South Sudanese presidential guards were reported in the capital Juba. The national TV went off air, and the airport was closed. The following day, President Salva Kiir appeared in full military attire in a press conference and accused the former vice president Riek Machar of leading a failed coup.

The death of several hundreds in few days and the attacks on UN soldiers forced international and regional mediators to intervene in an attempt to prevent this political tension from escalating into a civil war. As negotiations are being arranged, several questions need answers: Are the factors behind this crisis purely political? How mature is the country’s leadership? And how fragile is this nascent nation? In fact, several questions will remain unanswered.

The 15^th of December is nothing but a turning point in an ongoing power struggle. A week before the alleged coup, senior officials from the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (“SPLM”) party held a press conference, openly criticizing Salva Kiir’s leadership of the party and the whole country.
Machar was in the lead, and along with his colleagues he declared a rally to take place few days later. As party seniors invited Machar and his colleagues for an internal dialogue with Kiir during the National Liberation Council (“NLC”) event, the rally was postponed. Bishops and sheikhs gave the opening speech of the NLC reminding all the leaders in the room that discussion was the wise way to solve problems.
But apparently this did not calm the brewing anger. After the first day of the NLC meetings, and specifically on December 14, Machar declared he was pulling out of the meeting and invited his colleagues to do the same.

Last July, Machar was sacked from his position as a vice president, but remained serving as the vice chairman of the ruling SPLM. Commenting on his dismissal with a smile, he declared he will run against President Kiir for his positions as chairman of the SPLM and as president of the Republic.
Machar was not the only challenger to Kiir’s leadership. Pagan Amum, the former secretary-general of SPLM, who was sacked at the same time as Machar, also declared he would run for president in the 2015 elections. Amum was later subject to an internal SPLM investigation and was dismissed from the party – a decision which incited much criticism about Kiir.

Both men had a habit of openly criticizing Kiir’s decisions even when they still served in office. But after their dismissal, they waged a campaign against the SPLM’s leader, calling for internal reform and describing him as an undemocratic president.

In a mosaic society like South Sudan, politics is never the sole motive behind power struggles......Read More  
http://globalriskinsights.com/2014/01/08/south-sudans-crisis-is-far-beyond-a-power-struggle/

Libya's guns, gangs and the liberation of a masculine sickness

In Benghazi or a US suburb, the gun is a devil whispering to masculine hearts. This picture is less about freedom than power

  

Jonathan Jones 

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 19 February 2013 13.00 GMT

 

Libyans celebrate the second anniversary of the overthrow of Gaddafi. 'At a moment when guns are proliferating dangerously from Sandy Hook to South Africa, here is a photograph of what men see in them.' Photograph: Mohammad Hannon/AP

Are the guns in this photograph weapons or toys? The young men flaunting them look like they could have been playing with plastic guns not so many years ago, but the armoury they display here on the streets of Benghazi in Libya is very real. At a moment when guns are proliferating dangerously from Sandy Hook to South Africa, here is a photograph of what men see in them.

These youths, dressed half militarily, half casually – note the baseball cap, the low jeans – are driving round streets that apart from them, look empty. Well you wouldn't want to risk a stray bullet as these heroes celebrate the second anniversary of the uprising that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi. While the khaki- and camouflage-clad pair in the foreground look more or less like some kind of trained soldier with an official role, the car behind them is manned by equally well-armed kids whose dress and behaviour – the hooded youth raises a pistol wildly – is more gangsterish than military.

Why are guns the symbol of freedom at Benghazi's revolutionary celebration? This identification of guns with political liberty is not of course unique to north Africa. Defenders of the gun in the US associate it with citizens' liberties guaranteed by the second amendment to the constitution. They ignore the fact that any such liberties are matched in that venerable document by duties. But whatever you say about it, whatever you claim it means, a gun is fundamentally a piece of power. An armed man is always superior to an unarmed man, said Machiavelli. That is the point of view of the youths in this picture. They may be penniless, hungry, unemployed – who knows – but they possess the most basic form of power: a firearm.

In civil wars and sudden acts of violence, in Syria or an American suburb, the gun itself is an actor, because carrying it is such a temptation. It is a devil whispering to masculine hearts. This picture is about masculinity as much as guns: like a gang, these guys share their knowledge of the gun (if, that is, they do know how to shoot the death sticks they hold). They are bonded by an aura of toughness and strength. The gun freed Libya and it also liberates these kings of the street. It saves them from fear and ensures them respect.

Yet they seem almost strained in their joy. The most professional looking "soldier", on the left, poses with a smile as he rests a machine gun on his shoulder. He seems the most controlled. Yet his companion shakes a rifle in the air and makes a victory sign while yelling, in a way that seems restless, dissatisfied. Is waving a gun aloft enough? Is that all there is? Meanwhile the gangster-style youth behind them seems to be manically aware of his handgun's capacity to cause mayhem. For guns are just props, unless you use them. Their thrill demands ever greater demonstrations of the power they confer. There lies the temptation. This picture shows how societies get sick, when the gun becomes a male accessory.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/19/libya-guns-gangs-masculine-sickness?CMP=twt_gu&goback=.gde_2692730_member_216955786

Thoughts about Egypt's crap

Egypt is revolting …..Again?!

 

Ahmed Abou Taleb

One would think, after following the media’s narratives about the latest turmoil in Egypt, that the situation is as classical as the Egyptian revolution that took place two years ago: people VS the governor. But the fact is, since the SCAF has handed the power to Mohamed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood winning presidential candidate, the political scene in Egypt has been getting increasingly complicated. Several factors have been responsible for that.

New “players”

After 21 of the individuals charged with murder, in the Port Said Stadium events, have been sentenced to death, violence erupted in Port Said but joy overwhelmed Cairo.  Families of the convicts accompanied by the city football club’s fan association attacked the prison for long hours trying to free their charged relatives. Meanwhile, the Cairo based Ahly club fan association celebrated joyfully the sentence after 71 of its members have been killed in the stadium events in late 2012.

These events don’t only mark the tension between two clubs and their supporters all over the country but also the politicization of these youth associations. These fan clubs have been widely involved in politics since the revolution and were responsible for a series of political violence incidents that took place since Mubarak’s resignation in February 2011.

Lately, a new youth group has joined this violent struggle. The newly launched “Black Block” has used both violence and road cutting as techniques to pressure the government and oppose the president. However, claiming to be the guardian of the revolution doesn’t seem to be an enough reason to make people forgive the damage they cause to the daily life of an already suffering population.

A representative opposition?!

In fact, the complexity isn’t only due to the involvement of new actors but also due to the absence of some non represented factions whose silence leaves hollow gaps in Egypt’s political scene.  Despite its lately formed large coalition known as the National Salvation Front, the Egyptian opposition has failed to be a representative of the majority of those unfavorable of Mursi.

Whilst a majority of citizens disapprove of attacking police stations, local government buildings and cutting roads, several opposition spokesmen and figures haven’t showed the same feelings. On talk shows, they reluctantly blame such actions and insistently justify it by the fury of youth rebels against a failing regime. This fury theory might be right to some extent. But the recent attacks on prisons in Port Said & Suez have directly threatened the security of people and left them unsure about the identity of those demonstrating in the streets.  Moreover, it left them doubtful about the relation between the opposition and those responsible for violence.

A police under fire

Meanwhile, the tension that ravishes the society and its institutions has extended to reach critical government bodies such as the police. Policemen chased their minister away during a funeral of one of their colleagues because of the non sufficient arming. Over 120 police officers and central security forces soldiers have died in both criminal and politically motivated attacks against them during the last few months.

The Egyptian police have been a constant element of the ongoing problem.  One of the main causes of the revolution in 2011 was its brutality. On the one hand, one of the main criticisms to the post revolution governments is the incompetency of the police forces to provide security. On the other hand, police personnel themselves complain they are always under accusation whether they attempted to enforce law or to respect human rights.

Lacking the ability to reach a balance between law enforcement and respecting human rights makes it necessary for the police to undergo structural changes and doctrine reforms while being under fire.

Most Egyptians feel to a great extent confused and ignored. While political activists and political parties are struggling with the president to share power, people are suffering more and more the security void and the bad economic conditions. People are not only being divided on issues like the constitution but also the legitimacy of the president, the demands of the opposition and the priority of issues to put on top of the political agenda.  The renewed cycle of politically motivated violence makes a lot of people ask if politics is worth all that bloodshed.