Good governance
From guerrilla movement to political party: the restructuring of Sudan people’s liberation movement
Is the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement a political party?
Authors:
O. H. Rolandsen
Publisher:
International Peace Research Institute, Oslo , 2007
Will the rebel movement in Sudan transform into a political party? This paper is based on a short survey of Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) structures, capacity and processes of decision making. It was conducted in the period January - April 2007 in three out of ten states in South Sudan: Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Eastern Equatoria and Jonglei.
The results show that SPLM as a political party at the state and local levels still is very much at the infant stage. Hence, according to the author, it is too early to draw any conclusions regarding how well SPLM will manage the transition from a rebel movement to a political party. The paper highlights that this process is dependent on both internal developments and the overall political context and that the preparations of the national elections in 2008/9 will be of crucial importance. Some of the main challenges connected to this include:
- whether the elections will take place is mainly dependent on the overall level of trust between the two signatories of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the status of the agreement
- demarcation of the North/South border is delayed and the ruling of the Abyei Border Commission is disputed by the North/National Congress Party; delays and problems related to these processes may also have implications for the preparations of the national elections
