EDITORIAL: SPLM rejects censorship openly but endorses it secretly

By: Deng Mulwal

SPLM for the last four years of its partnership with the NCP has been spearing its partner and playing a contrary role of the political principles of its ally. One of the issues which the SPLM threw its criticism spear at is the freedom restrictions laws as it vocally criticized the bill in the parliament session .

It considers that the law creates strictures in the channels of the Sudanese press freedom as it considers the existing press law an obstacle for such freedom .

The SPLM thinks that by airing such opposition it can win the respect of the Sudanese public as a real liberation movement .

But when it comes to reality we find that the SPLM was the first to endorse the press censorship and even drafted it. What a liberation movement !

The decision to tighten the screws on the freedom of the press was secretly recommended by the SPLM on which decision was jointly taken between the SPLM and NCP, its main partner in the GoNU, after a complaint from the FVP, Salva Kiir Mayardit, who sent a letter to the President (Al Bashir) complaining about some articles in the dailies on the SPLM and its Chairman .

Accordingly, a meeting had been convened between the Director of the National Security and Intelligence Services, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)’s Secretary General, (Pagan Amum) where it was agreed to impose tough censorship on the press and review its contents before printing .

SPLM security personnel serving with NSIS ( Sudan security agency)   were even deployed to some of the papers in Khartoum to scrutinize the articles before they could be published !

Most important is the fact that the press draft law had been written by the SPLM and not the NCP and even the heavy fine included in the law was the SPLM's proposal .

The (SPLM) party parliamentarians should have kept quiet during discussions than opposing the bill while pretending to expose NCP as the spoiler without expecting the NCP to bite back !

It became clear that the SPLM is trying to beautify its image amongst other political forces by airing such criticism to its main partner and at the same time proposing and endorsing the press censorship .

SPLM thinks it is smarter than its partner the NCP and will play foul for the latter to take the blame while it shines in the limelight as the institution promoting individual rights. But NCP can be even smarter than SPLM that is why it came up at the right time to expose the fox of its deeds .

Now journalists should be aware of SPLM as the institution depriving them of their rights of expression and not the NCP, as they had always believed .

We conclude that this covert action of the SPLM is its normal way of behavior as the 'leopard cannot change its spots .'

So journalists, watch out !