The break-up of Sudan

The people of Southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly in a historic referendum in January to secede from Africa's largest state and constitute a separate nation-state of their own. In the following comment written before the recent Arab revolt was fully under way, Mohamed El Mokhtar says the problem of Sudan is a reflection of the political bankruptcy of the ruling Arab elites.

ON the one hand one cannot but express a sigh of relief and share the joy and happiness of the peoples of south Sudan who are, now, freely exercising their legitimate right to self-determination and defining, at last, the configuration of their own independent, and let's all hope viable, state after decades of prolonged wars, senseless bloodletting, large-scale displacements and all kinds of undeserved suffering.

On the other hand, it's quite sad and heartbreaking indeed to see, or contemplate powerlessly, an unusual Arab country as original and potentially promising as Sudan falling apart in this manner and for such preposterous reasons as religious intolerance, racism and exclusion.

Sudan, this rare masterpiece of ethnic diversity endowed with unparalleled assets (geo-strategic centrality, important arable landmass, plenty of water, huge reserves of oil, lots of minerals.); this exceptional and colourful land, this rare kaleidoscope of ancient cultures, of civilisations and traditions, this awesome mosaic of peoples and languages, living under an ecological rainbow of beauty; this sub-continental country, a true jewel of nature, provided with such a talented intelligentsia, could not, after half a century of political independence, nurture a sense of common national identity, or cultivate a modern concept of citizenship. Worse, it could not keep intact its territorial integrity for simply not having been capable of valuing, on time, that uncommon treasure: its rich diversity.

Thus, despite its natural potential, Sudan is, alas, finally breaking up. After decades of autocratic rule and mismanagement, after a long night of nefarious plots and foreign interference, after a long succession of man-made disasters, this amazing country is, at last, splitting into two separate entities, and maybe even more, divided along ethnic and religious lines.

Structural impotence

Beyond the fact that this hodgepodge of manufactured frontiers was, in large part, a legacy of British colonialism, there is no doubt that the current painful outcome is primarily the result of an enormous political failure; a failure of governance; a failure of leadership; a failure of integration, a failure of coexistence. It is, also and mainly, the outcome of a much deeper, and sinister, reality: the overall impotence of the Arab world.

The break-up of Sudan is not just an internal Sudanese problem. It is much bigger than that. It is an extension of a structural impotence; it's the tragic expression of a low point of powerlessness and helplessness gripping for so long the entire region. It epitomises, if need be, a common point, a hallmark of today's Arab leaders: lack of vision, and worst of all, the total absence of political legitimacy. The long-term deliberate neglect of Egyptian rulers, the current ailing and senile head of state in particular, of their own southern flank is an eloquent indication of an indisputable fact: the indifference of autocratic rulers to the well-being and vital interest of their own peoples.

If Mubarak were truly representative of the will of his people, would he have acted as though Sudan did not exist or represent anything of importance to Egypt, to its vital national security and long-term strategic interests? That's the question. Therein lies, perhaps, the source of the problem. One cannot watch, indifferently and carelessly, its brotherly neighbour slowly drown and then begin screaming of the heavens falling, like Chicken Little, after the body has sunk, just as the Egyptian political leadership has done in relation to Sudan.

National leaderships that are inherently illegitimate and rule by illegal coercive security means are never at ease with themselves; therefore they can never think beyond the immediate horizon of their political survival. Like animals they behave in accordance with their gut feelings or survival instinct. They often camouflage their impotence with a veil of jingoistic slogans and stultifying demagoguery. They could not care less about the future of their own country or its long-term interests. Their sole focus is the power they have stolen and are illegally holding; staying in charge or perpetuating the incumbency of the political regime is their only and unique preoccupation. Any other task is secondary.

To get a better sense of this obsession with power, let's ponder this grim, and really pitiful, spectacle: Hosni Mubarak, that ailing and senile autocrat, is pathetically clinging, come hell or high water, to an evanescent seat by all means (coercion, fraud and corruption) instead of retiring, like a respected Mandela or a perceptive Senghor, and enjoying his last remaining days. Doing so, he hopes to delegate, before his death, the presidency of Egypt to his preferred heir, the corrupt and hated son who is now a multi-billionaire, thanks to his unscrupulous business deals and paternal connections, in a country where 20% of the people live under the threshold of poverty, namely with less than a dollar a day.

Record of underachievement

When citizens are kept outside the equation of power or the process of political decision-making, when they cannot hold accountable their rulers, when they cannot get involved in shaping their own future, the result is what we see in Sudan and many other Arab countries: chronic domestic vulnerabilities, record of underachievement, sectarian violence, foreign intervention, wide-open wounds.

But the plight of Sudan, like anywhere else, is, first of all, the result of the actions of the Sudanese themselves. One can blame, at will, the British and their colonialism, the Egyptians and their negligence, the Libyans and their past nefarious intervention, Israel and its infinite plots, the US and its neo-imperialist plans, but none of that can take hold had it not been for the mistakes of the Sudanese ruling elites themselves. From Numeiri to Turabi to El Bashir, they all set a record of underachievement, a litany of socio-political fiascos, not least of which is the lack of a sound consensus-based and participatory system of governance.

The fact that the citizens of the country were for so long, in the South in particular, oppressed and completely disenfranchised, undoubtedly explains a great deal of what is happening now. Nationhood is not an abstract phenomenon. It is a work continuously in the making; a work that requires effort and dedication, vision and leadership; most importantly, it requires the collective free will of the people. Today's world is different from 19th-century Italy or Germany or Napoleonic France where force could be used at will to unify a vast land or impose a cultural or linguistic identity upon a diverse group of peoples.

To forge a free nation today you need the assent of all. No identity can be unduly imposed anymore. Moreover, everyone should have a stake in the decision-making process of the collectivity. The role of the state is to manage those differences, not to impose blindly a mythical idea of uniformity. Its main task is to nurture a notion of collective belonging, a culture of civic citizenship, a sense of ownership, of national entitlement regardless of ethnic origin or economic class. That's how modern statehood should be conceived and constructed.

Unfortunately that democratic ideal has been lacking in the Arab world where, as Rami Khouri put it: 'The modern Arab state has been transformed heavily into a security apparatus and a facilitator of shopping malls and real estate investments because the alternative route to national stability and sustained, equitable development - democratic participation and the consent of the governed - have never been attempted on a serious basis.'

Let's hope that the 'Jasmine Revolution' in Tunisia will be the linchpin for the long-awaited awakening of this great nation from the Atlantic to the Euphrates; and its liberation from the chains of tyranny, the yoke of foreign domination, and the shackles of economic misery.    

Mohamed El Mokhtar Sidi Haiba is a political analyst. This article is reproduced from PalestineChronicle.com.

*Third World Resurgence No. 245/246, January/February 2011, pp 45-46