Origin of the Current Crisis in South Sudan (Part 3): The Birth

In the previous posts, we discussed the first calls for independence in South Sudan, the 2005 peace agreement that was the conception of independence (click here to read “The Origin of the Current Crisis (Part 1)”), and the January 2011 referendum that began the labor process before the birth of South Sudan (click here to read “The Origin of the Current Crisis (Part 2)”). This post will describe the actual birth of South Sudan.

After decades of fighting for independence, a few years of negotiations to reach a peace agreement, six years in limbo, and a nearly unanimous vote for independence, South Sudan became the world’s newest country on July 9, 2011. I had the honor of being in Juba in the weeks leading up to independence. I watched the fevered pitch of preparations for building a new country, which included everything from finishing the airport, to parade practice and parliamentary debate over the Transitional Constitution. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a parade practice for the Independence Day parade. First, can you imagine watching General George Washington and his troops practicing on June 30, 1776 for the July 4 Independence Day parade? This was the equivalent for me because I watched the practice and preparations for the celebration of the birth of a new country!

As I watched the army, navy, women's battalions, bands, and police march by, I was moved for another reason. I was watching the group I had been studying for the last four years, the Sudan People's Liberation Army, march by in triumph. This was the first time I’d laid eyes on them, and I couldn't have asked for a better introduction. To know I was watching people who had fought a bloody civil war for independence for 22 years, and that they were on the verge of successful secession gave me chills. To be sure, I am not promoting independence movements or secessionist groups (researcher objectivity blah blah blah [not that I believe such a thing even exists]), but you can't be human and not be caught up in the excitement of the moment. This is especially true if you think about South Sudanese citizens' hopes and dreams of a bright future.

I also experienced the excitement of watching South Sudan’s Parliament debate the details of its Transitional Constitution. Again, I felt like I was sitting in on the US Constitutional Convention of 1787. Though there were was definitely a lively debate, there was still an air of euphoria because we were only a few days away from independence. Despite the euphoria, however, my words from my blog that day acted as foreshadowing to the current crisis: 

This is not to say that there will not be (or that there aren't already) problems in this nascent nation. There are struggles over what the new constitution should look like, whether there should be a federal or unitary political system, how many states there should be, how to include smaller ethnic groups in policy planning and implementation, etc.

Even with these struggles, though, it is important to remember that 99% of the population of South Sudan was willing to take its chances with independence than to continue living as part of Sudan. It is against the backdrop of this euphoria that I sat enjoying the Independence Day parade and ceremony surrounded by SPLA colonels and generals, and international dignitaries (don’t ask how I got the “hook up”). 

Personal invitation to the Ceremony (again, don't ask!)

Independence Ceremony

There are not words to describe the jubilation felt by every South Sudanese citizen that day. The moment when they lowered the Sudanese flag and simultaneously raised the South Sudanese flag was unlike any other I’ve ever experienced. These hardened soldiers wept openly and congratulated each other, while telling me that they thought this day would never come. I've never experienced anything like it! 

At the Independence Ceremony with the SPLA

Sooooooooooo, how do we go from that euphoria to the current crisis only 2 and a half years later? In the next post we will continue with our baby analogy and discuss the terrible twos (aka the current crisis). Stay tuned...