OPINION: Criticism Without a Way Forward is a Wasting of Information.
By Chang Bithow,
Gambella, Ethiopia
Hon. Angelina Teny after taking oath of office as the new defense minister in the capital, Juba(Photo credit: supplied)
March 27, 2020(SSNN) — After the formation of the South Sudan new cabinet of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU) on March 12, 2020, the appointment of Madam Angelina Teny as ministry of defense and veteran affair has been heavy criticized by SPLM-IO supporters and has become the central debate on the social media. The allegations that were attached to her appointment include the followings. 1. Incompetent to occupy the role 2. Lack of military experience 3. Being a wife of Riek Machar and etc. Others claimed that she has the right to occupy the role because she was given a ticket by SPLM-IO in Unity state as their candidate to represent them in the Government of National unity.
Although the dichotomy opinions didn’t flow in the same pool, if you make your own political analysis to the above allegations, you should characterize them as fault logics or smear campaigns that were polished to deliberately attack her political career. In political sense, Madam Angelina is competent and capable to hold any political post in unity government including the presidency if she was given a chance to lead. No doubt that she can use her political terrain to engage with other political parties to be expeditious in resolving the outstanding issues that were left before the formation of the R-TGONU.
In my surprise of this political crisis, the SPLM-IO supporters who should support their leader, have taken an inappropriate approach to criticize her appointment in public. This is an irresponsible error, they should not be worried or critical about Angelina’s appointment, but they should be deeply concerned about the violation of political structure hierarchy that was broken by the Chairman. Because he (Dr Riek) was appointed as FVP of the Republic of South Sudan, he should locate the first or highest ministerial post in the Unity Government to his deputy (Henry Odwar) such as the Ministry of defense and Veteran Affairs, not Madam Angelina nor General James Koang or somebody else. The breakdown of the political structure hierarchy within SPLM-IO, should be the sentimental point that could require concerns to share or need great caution to address in political softness not to unmitigated her appointment. In my sincere advice, if a member feels discomfort or being affected by the decision in future, he or she should follow or respect the political structures and navigate the right channel to address his or her political grievance in the right path rather than roaring on the social media.
Also, the formation of the Unity Government or R-TGONU did not only affect the SPLM-IO, but other parties in the government. For example, the SPLM-IG had suffered several shot wounds after the 32 states were dissolved and relocated some ministerial portfolios to the oppositions, but they didn’t wrestle, they mourn in silence. Also, we have seen SSOA throw bombs at each other, but survived, when they used their high politics to lock Dr Lam and Changson Leaw out of the new cabinet. In this manner, The SPLM-IO supporters should adopt the same political strategy to be silent not merely to show their political maturity, but to demonstrate their ability to handle the crisis within the party.
In addition, the political defection from the Generals to shift their allegiance from SPLM-IO and declare their support to SPLM-IG, should be treated as common and normal in politics. As long as their defection did not create violence or take the country back to war, people should not be panicked or worried. Politics is interest, it wouldn’t be surprising to see one of them to be appointed as Governor of the Upper Nile State if their interest has been approved or accepted. In this junction, I would like to wish them well in their political endeavors and hope they will help on the other end to play effective roles and work together with other parties including SPLM-IO to achieve the sustainable peace in the country.
In conclusion, despite what had happened, I would be exhilarated to see all partners in a peace agreement to move forward with a spirit of forgiveness to build confidence in incorrigibility to implement the peace agreement per agreement. Since the government has been formed and the SPLM-IO deputy Henry Odwar accepted his lower ministerial portfolios for the sake of peace, we should terminate all complaints, allegations or irresponsible comments. In this crucial time, we should only encourage all the SPLM-IO, SPLM-IG and other parties in peace agreement to build trust and work together in collaboration to achieve genuine peace in the country. Therefore, criticism without a way forward is a waste of energy, time and information. In the midst of the neoteric outbreak of the COVID-19 which placed human life in danger globally, I always pray that no single life will be lost by this pandemic. Finally, I would urge all political parties to put their political differences aside and combine their efforts to work for national interest to find a suitable solution or response to the pandemic and lasting peace in the country. Kind regards,
Chang Bithow is from Gambella, Ethiopia. He can be contacted for more information at changbithow@gmail.com
The opinions and press releases expressed in this commentary are solely those of the authors, any veracity lies solely on the authors or the institutions represented by the authors. View more opinion articles and press releases on SSNN. To get your article published, visit our contact page here or send your email to info.ssnewsnow@gmail.com
Facebook Comments