The new Republic of South Sudan is starting on a note of optimism with the hopes that the energies unleashed will be channelled into productive development, observes Asmaa El-Husseini in Juba Speaking at the independence ceremony launching the new state of South Sudan, President Salva Kiir said that the southerners had waited 56 years for freedom and dignity. The optimism accompanying the birth of a new nation is yet to be tested. From now on, South Sudan will be on its own. It will not have the north to blame, or the National Congress Party to revile. With a country all to themselves, the southern Sudanese will have to come to terms with their own problems, and take responsibility for the many things that may go wrong. This is a harder test than anything the southerners have had to go through in the past, harder than their many years of insurgency against the central government, and harder than the testy truce following the signing of the peace agreement in 2005, when they ruled in partnership with the NCP. The man at the helm, Salva Kiir, has a tough job ahead of him. He took over in difficult circumstances following the death of John Garang, the hugely popular leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). Salva Kiir is sometimes compared -- unfavourably -- with Garang. Some said that he doesn't have the charisma needed for the job. Others say that he has paid little heed to Garang's hopes for an equitable yet united Sudan. But he is the man who has taken South Sudan to full statehood, and he is also the man who is expected to bring prosperity to a nation that is still impoverished despite its immense natural resources. South Sudan has it all: oil, water, immense fertile land, and swathes of grazing fields. What it doesn't have is the knowhow and the capital to develop its ample resources. Right now the southerners need to put their house together. The same goes for the northerners. The problems facing North Sudan have not been alleviated by the secession of the south. The northern government still faces trouble everywhere, from Darfur to South Kordofan, and from Abyei to the eastern parts. And unless border problems are resolved, hostilities with the south may resume. This is why both the north and the south need to keep talking. And both have to hold domestic dialogue to resolve their problems at the home front. In both the south and the north, the population remains ethnically diverse and tensions are often simmering beneath the surface. In the south, a new government is expected to form within weeks, a move that will be followed by a much awaited statement of policy. Salva Kiir and his colleagues will have their hands full with the tasks of the coming phase. For starters, they will need to balance the needs of a population that is diverse in ethnic, tribal, racial, cultural, and religious terms. Diversity can be a source of power, but unless skillfully handled, it can backfire. The southerners have been waiting for long for political participation and a decent standard of living. And unless the new government rises up to their expectations, domestic disturbances cannot be ruled out. The South Sudan government will need to provide services and basic amenities to a country with a surface of 700,000 square kilometres. To do so, it will need competent management, accountability, and the will to fight corruption. More importantly, it will need to promote a culture of tolerance and rally various ethnic groups around a unified agenda. Whether the southerners will succeed in their effort depends to a large extent on their ability to get along with the northerners. For one thing, the south exports its oil through the north. Also the current military spending in the south eats up nearly 80 per cent of the budget, and unless the country feels reassured of continued peace with the north, its ability to use its resources for development will be seriously curtailed, and the much-needed spending on things such as health, education, food, and infrastructure will have to be postponed. As for the north, it will also have to make some hard choices. The monopoly of the NCP on power, which is to blame for much of the country's current ordeals, cannot be allowed to continue. For years, the central government papered over its problems, pretended that they did not exist, and failed to act when action was needed. As a result, it lost the south, and can lose a lot more. Other parts of the country, from Darfur to South Kordofan, in the Blue Nile and eastern Sudan, can be tempted to follow in the footsteps of South Sudan. Now more than ever, there is a need for the north to seek genuine solutions of the country's multiple problems, rather than use palliatives and hope for the best as the current regime often did in the past. Unless Khartoum addresses the country's flashpoints, especially in Darfur and Abyei, the current spark of peace with South Sudan may not last for long, and instead could start fires in the old Sudan's many trouble spots.
