THE UNITED DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT/ARMY (UDRM/A)
Office of Secretary General
E-mail: [email protected]; Phone: (402) 835-9970
July 2, 2019
Ref: UDRM/A/PR1/2019
PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OFFICIAL LAUNCHING OF THE UNITED DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT (UDRM) AND UNITED DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTIONARY ARMY (UDRA)
July 2, 2019 (SSNA) — The leadership of the United Democratic Revolutionary Movement/Army, under enable guidance of Dr. Gatwech Koang Thiech Dhuoor do hereby, officially, launch the operationalization of its political and military engagement inside and outside South Sudan, with immediate effect.
Founded by South Sudanese intellectuals and Army senior Officers in 2017, the UDRM has been keeping a low profile in a beat to give peace, between SPLM factions, a chance. Regrettably, the peace processes turned out to be a way of keeping the people of South Sudan hostages. Therefore, the UDRM/A is left with no other choice but to call for an all-out politico-military uprising right the way through South Sudan, so that genuine, sustainable and robust peace is achieved by all means necessary.
- Background
The young Republic of South Sudan engulfed itself in a civil war barely two years into its independence. The political crisis within the political leadership of the ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), turned violent on December 15, 2013 thereby plunging the country into the political abyss. Consequent to events of the fateful day, the SPLM split into two factions, namely the SPLM in government [Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GRSS)] led by Salva Kiir Mayardit and the SPLM/SPLA (in Opposition) lead by Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon.
On December 6, 2013, the reformist as they called themselves, led by Dr. Riek Machar, held a press conference in the SPLM House in which they called on the SPLM Chairman to, among other things, call to session the SPLM Political Bureau to set the agenda for the anticipated session of the SPLM National Liberation Council (NLC).
Held at the height of simmering tensions in the SPLM, the Press Conference marked the beginning of a split within the movement. In fact, Chairman Salva Kiir construed the press conference as an attempt to snatch power, which he on December 16, 2013 elaborated as “failed coup attempt against the state”, now proven beyond doubt that it was not the case. If anything, Salva Kiir pulled a coup against the SPLM and his colleagues in the leadership.
Splits are however not unusual to the SPLM/SPLA. The Movement witnessed splits within its ranks since its inception in 1983. The first rift pitted the group of Samuel Gai Tut and Akuot Atem against Dr. John Garang and other politicians. Then, Dr. John Garang and his loyalists embraced the idea of liberating the whole Sudan from Arab rulers. Samuel Gai Tut, Akuot Atem and other Southern Sudanese on the other hand insisted on simply liberating South Sudan and making it an independent country. This split led to bloodshed, which resulted in the death of both Samuel Gai Tut and Akuot Atem.
A more serious split in the SPLM ensued in 1991. This time, it split into SPLM Nasir Faction and SPLM Torit Faction. The key reason for the split was that the Nasir Faction led by Dr. Riek Machar, rejected the Movement’s policy (“New Sudan Vision”) of unconditional unity of the Sudan and advocated for the right of Self-Determination for South Sudanese. The two leaders later on signed the Washington Declaration, which adopted the right of Self-Determination for the people of Southern Sudan. This right became a reality on the 9th July 2011, a day when South Sudan gained independence.
In spite of having led the people of South Sudan through to independence, harmonious resolutions of internal contradictions within the SPLM did not happen. Splits were resolved through compromise and ‘a return to the fold’ without addressing the root causes of the contradictions or effecting structural changes in the SPLM/SPLA explaining the recurrence of the contradictions. However, the split that boiled over in December 2013 has transcended the current ruling SPLM due to its linkage to South Sudanese state and its governance system.
The resistance to reforms, which now precipitated civil strife in the country, has therefore rendered it difficult to organize, democratize and politicize the SPLM internal relations. The lack of a unifying political ideology and insufficient organizational capacity compounds the internal situation, making the current governing SPLM incapable of transforming the South Sudanese society.
Coupled with inherited negative effects of colonial legacy, it is no wonder that South Sudan still bears the relics of centuries of socio-economic and cultural underdevelopment manifested in abject poverty, ignorance, and propensity to ethnic and regional autochthonism as survival instincts.
To confront and address this sad reality requires a new political ideology and organization to usher in a socio-economic paradigm shift capable of rendering rapid development through competitiveness in the production of social goods and knowledge.
- Establishment of the United Democratic Revolutionary Movement/Army (UDRM/A): A clean Break from SPLM/A
The events that begun in December 2013 and the resultant civil war epitomized a system of political practice and decay associated with gruesome atrocities, corruption, tribalism, nepotism, dictatorship, chauvinism, widespread discrimination, underdevelopment, marginalization, ethnic domination, and so on. The United Democratic Revolutionary Movement abhors such a system and makes a clean break with this past.
This declaration therefore heralds the formation of United Democratic Revolutionary Movement, abbreviated as [UDRM]. It is a Movement spearheaded by Educated South Sudanese mostly from the United States of America, Canada, Australia and European Countries. UDRM as a political movement shall imbue the masses with ideas of democracy and social progress to enable to lead social, economic and political processes of state and nation building in South Sudan through a good governance system that is people centered.
Central to the good system of governance, the political objective of UDRM is to establish federal system of governance in the Republic of South Sudan comprising ten federal states. The UDRM shall foster a political ideology whereby the state plays a leading role in social and economic development of the country by investing in large industrial and infrastructural installations, directing and transforming society through indigenous programs as well as adopting those that have successfully been implemented in other parts of the world. At the same time, the UDRM shall encourage and promote the development of the private sector.
For the UDRM, other than the pivotal establishment of a federal system, a complete break with the past must entail the following principles and objectives:
- UDRM Principles:
- Democracy, justice, freedom, equality, religious tolerance, social cohesion, peace, prosperity, harmony and inclusivity;
- Federalism and devolution of powers and resources;
- Unity of people of South Sudan, shared historical experiences and respect for diversity;
- Supremacy of the rule of Law and respect of separation of powers and roles;
- Human Rights and fundamental freedoms as stipulated in the Constitution and in regional and international instruments;
- Respect of democratic institutions and collective leadership;
- Accountability, transparency and good governance;
- Respect for diversity of South Sudanese cultural values, heritage and beliefs;
- Gender equality;
- Socio-economic, cultural and political empowerment of women;
- Safeguard the rights of the child, youth, widows, orphans, people with disabilities, wounded heroes and heroines, and war veterans;
- Protection of the environment and sustainable development of natural resources;
- Create conducive environment for participation of persons with special needs in all aspects of life;
- Self-reliance and economic self-sufficiency and balanced urban-rural development; and
- Pursue Foreign policy and International relations based on national interests, respect among nations and preservation of regional and global peace and stability.
- UDRM Objectives:
- Build a federal state, based on a just, democratic, secular system of governance, and popular participation of its entire people;
- Create national consciousness and common purpose through the liberation of the individual and society from all forms of political, economic and social constraints;
- Ensure inclusiveness, gender equality and combat tribalism and ethnic chauvinism;
- Promote the general wellbeing of the people of South Sudan;
- Eradicate poverty and strive to attain sustainable development;
- Plan, promote and direct economic and social development for the benefit of all;
- Uphold, protect and promote rights of the child, persons with special needs, the elderly and woman;
- Defend and advance the democratic values in the federal state;
- Ensure that governments at all levels are representative and freely elected by the people of South Sudan through universal suffrage;
- Promote and encourage scientific research and adopt appropriate modern technologies;
- Ensure implementation of the principle of federalism and devolution of powers;
- Promote democratic principles and practices, and social cohesion;
- Uphold the principles of supremacy of the rule of law and separation of powers;
- Ensure that human rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, regional and international instruments are promoted, respected and protected;
- Enhance participatory democracy and ensure respect of democratic processes and institutions;
- Ensure practices of collective leadership;
- Ensure justice and equality for all irrespective of ethnicity, origin, religion, region, social status or gender;
- Enhance accountability, transparency and good governance;
- Encourage and promote respect for the diversity of the people of South Sudan;
- Ensure gender equality and promote socio-economic, cultural and political empowerment of women;
- Realize and ensure economic self-sufficiency and self-reliance for the people of South Sudan;
- Protect and preserve the environment, ensure sustainable utilization of natural resources and promote environmental sustainability;
- Protect, uphold and promote the unity of the people;
- Uphold and promote national, regional and global peace and security; and
- Develop and pursue and appropriate foreign policy to maintain regional and international cooperation and preserve global peace and stability.
- UDRM Contract to the people of South Sudan
In breaking with the past, the UDRM shall be guided by the above principles and objectives and strive to build a new socio-political and economic order that is built on the commitment to the following:
- Federalism: devolution of power and resources
UDRM shall establish a federal system of governance. It is the best way for sharing political power and wealth in South Sudan. Therefore in order to achieve social, political and economic transformation, full implementation of federalism is critical, especially the devolution of resources to the lower levels of governments. This shall ensure that the distribution of income in the economy leaves purchasing power in the hands of the common man/woman and at the same time enable even distribution of economic development and national income among persons, group of persons and regions to avoid creation or emergence of separate development and concentration of wealth in the hands of a few or in particular regions. Establishment of federalism as the system of governance shall:
- Empower the national, state and local levels of government to have their own executive, legislature and judicial organs;
- Empower the states and local government to have their own local forces (police, Correctional Service, Wildlife and Civil Defense) and deliver basic services in education, health, communication, infrastructure services, etc; and
- Empower the States and local governments, through devolution of powers to exercise concurrent powers in developing natural resources such as mining, energy, oil and gas, agriculture, forestry, animal resources, fisheries and public utilities.
- Peace and Security
War and violence have stalked the people of South Sudan for centuries. The pursuit for peace is therefore not just the absence of war. In pursuing peace that is just and sustainable, it is paramount that the root causes of war must be addressed so as to create a society where everyone feels a sense of belonging without fear.
The UDRM upholds that peaceful resolution to conflicts is through a negotiated settlement and is therefore ready to settle for a just and sustainable peace. Further to its policy of promoting mutual forgiveness, peace, reconciliation and unity of purpose and consensus-building, the UDRM policy on Dialogue proposes the holding of a series of national, regional and local conferences in order to further the cause of mutual forgiveness, peace, reconciliation, healing and sustainable development.
Appeal
The leadership of UDRM/A is hereby appealing to all South Sudanese to wake up and challenge the SPLM factions that are masquerading themselves as the owners of South Sudan, when they are, in actual fact, caring less about the melancholic life they created for the people of South Sudan, by fashioning an unscrupulous peace, which is synonymous with imprisonment of the entire nation under their misguided policy of divide and rule. Henceforth, the leadership of the UDRM/A will announce to the public the new leadership structures, both political and military Councils in a few days times.
We are, furthermore, appealing to all politico-military organizations of South Sudan National Democratic Alliance (SSNDA), of which UDRM/A is a founding member, other likeminded organizations and individual (s) to coordinate, cooperate and join UDRM/A wherever they are, to rescue the downtrodden people of South Sudan from the inconsiderate leaders of the SPLM cliques.
Long Live UDRM/A!
Long Live SSNDA!
Long Live the Federal Republic of South Sudan (FROSS)!
JUSTICE, FREEDOM, EQUALITY
ThomasTutDoapJiah
Thomas Tut Doap Jiah, Secretary General, UDRM