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Discussion Board Summary
22 September - 24 October
2007
The past month has seen Sudan plunge into uncertainty
with the surprise announcement of SPLM suspension of its activities
from the Government of National Unity (GONU) on 11 October 2007.
This news continues to leave many pondering about
the viability as well as fragility of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA) in light of this suspension. This was expressed in SPLM
Pulls Its Members Out of GONU (posted 11 October) that saw 22
replies from over 601 views.
The mounting disquiet about the National Congress
Party (NCP) commitment to the CPA had been expressed in several
occasions and was seen days earlier through Leaving
No Stone Unturned (posted 6 October). A member points to an
article that implies that the North may be gearing for a return
to civil war in the south.
From the last review was Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and The CPA (posted 10 September) where members
had asked why the focus had largely been on the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in the Government of National Unity (GONU) yet inequality
and large disparities exist in other ministries regarding the integration
of south Sudanese into the national civil service. This was also
in line with calls for the reshuffle of ministers that culminated
in GONU reshuffle on 17 October 2007. Now that Dr. Lam Akol is gone,
we await the resumption of duties by SPLM in GONU once the stalemate
over CPA implementation is resolved (hopefully) before the 3rd Anniversary.
An issue that has recently come to the fore is
South Sudanese Diaspora. This has been felt keenly in Australia
following recent tragic events pertaining to racism and crime. This
was somewhat countered – albeit earlier - in Price
of Labour and Racial Profiling in Canada (posted 14 August).
A member points out that as a minority community in places such
as Canada and Australia issue regarding race will arise and sadly
the emergence of racial stereotyping may be a consequence of the
actions of a few.
Also on the matter of definition through the House
of Nationalities forum, is Animist:
How Relevant to South Sudan (posted 24 September). As many members
of the South Sudanese communities have read through the years, South
Sudan has been described as mainly being animist. A member put us
to task by asking why this word is used to refer to South Sudanese
yet this far removed from the reality. This topic has so far elicited
13 replies to over 342 views.
To round up the Gurtong Discussion board is the
Matters
of Interest forum with Ancient Egyptians Were Not Black Says Zahi
Hawass (posted 27 September) which has elicited 11 replies to
over 242 views. This is a very unusual topic in which we members
discuss this concept and why it continues to fascinate many, in
particular African Americans.
As always the
opinion articles on Gurtong provide wide-ranging perspectives
of topics covered and insightful views have been made. Gurtong recommends
you have a read as a myriad of topical issues have received review.
Here is just a pick of them:
24/09/2007 CPA’s
Power Sharing and SPLM-NCP Partnership Politics
01/10/2007 SPLM
Did Not Make Me, Said Dr. Lam Akol
05/10/2007 Politics
and culture work together
12/10/2007 Is
The CPA Dead? But Why?
15/10/2007 Out
of The Blue Comes The Blue
15/10/2007 South
Sudan minister explains pull out
15/10/2007 SPLM
Takes Long Awaited Step to Salvage CPA
18/10/2007 Sudan:
Stakes Raised Over Southern Agreement - Analyst
19/10/2007 It
is time for Diplomacy, a test to Sudan's Political Maturity
24/10/2007 Rumours
About LRA Split Shouldn't Derail Juba Talks
It is recommended
that those who have time to spare should go through the whole posting
and select what they like for themselves.
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