WATANI International
22 March 2009
Anyone who remembers Mohamed Said al-Sahhaf, Iraq’s Media Minister during Saddam Hussein’s rule, will recall how he carried the process of deluding the nation into an art in its own right. While Iraq was being crushed in defeat by Western forces, Sahhaf was on all TV channels enthusiastically heralding the good tidings of how Iraq was annihilating all its enemies. It took the fall of Baghdad for Sahhaf to fall and his fantastically upbeat rhetoric to be definitely exposed as a mere pack of untruths.
I don’t know why Sahhaf came vividly to my mind as I heard and saw the supporters of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir—including some religious fanatics who have monopolised for themselves the distinction of being “the honourable people of Egypt and the Arab World”. Their fevered screaming slogans in defence of their hero intoxicated Bashir; he promptly raised his stick and waved it around, declaring war against the world.
Bashir should not allow himself to be deluded into repeating a collection of outdated arguments. The West is not after destroying Sudan because it covets its oil; Bashir himself said that he had tried to lure western oil companies to Sudan but failed. Neither is the West jealous of any development in Sudan; in fact western aid money has been flowing into Sudan and other Third World countries for decades in an attempt to promote development and has been, unfortunately, frequently wasted or looted by despotic ruling regimes.
The most ridiculous argument to date, though, is that a president of a sovereign State ought not to be tried while in office. As though there were ever any ‘former presidents’ in the Third World. It is an open secret that only death of a president may bring about another to office. Power rotation is non-existent, neither is impeachment or resignation of presidents. Third World Constitutions or laws generally include no provisions for trying ministers, let alone presidents. Even the death of a president no longer guarantees change, since sons may succeed their fathers as presidents.
My proposal to Bashir if he is interested in emerging undefeated form this crisis is simple enough. He would not merely come up on top; he may even qualify for a Nobel Peace Prize. I suggest Bashir hastens to hold a full reconciliation with the Darfurians, pay compensation to the victims, allow the displaced to go back home, apologise to them and allow their empowerment. At the same time, he should hold televised trials for those who were implicated in crimes against Darfur. But most important, he should finally resign as president, and open the door for a democratic system, free elections, and power rotation.
If Bashir is brave enough to do that, he would carve for himself a niche in history, just as F.W. de Klerk did when he set Nelson Mandela free in 1990 and resigned his office. It would take courage and vision, though, for Bashir to do so.
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