One of the fundamental principles of negotiating deal is to allow your opponent to submit proposal on the table without intimidation.
However, this approach does not guarantee the rule of One-Way traffic because the other side of the coin has similar right to sabotage through employing same traffic rules by making U-turn. Obviously, through rejection and amendment, the negotiators may victimize or shape the future of any specific proposal.
The longer the regime in Khartoum screws to hostage the issue of Abyei, the more Khartoum hopes to grab portion of land, which the Misseriyia had never dreamt of it. It seems the NCP is outrageously rejecting deal on Abyei with assumption to get similar gain as it happened with Arbitration Court. But there is no such sort of division again because Abyei border had been demarcated through International Arbitration Court in 2009.
In previous Addis Ababa negotiation on Abyei, the debate was who will be eligible to vote in the upcoming referendum? The negotiators and mediators couldn't find a single legal precedent by international law whereby the nomads exercised the right of voting in an area not belonging to them. This is because the nomads' rights are being considered as seasonal rights contrary to that of the Ngok Dinka which is dominant rights. Based on that legal concept the Africa Union proposal gives the right of voting to Ngok Dinka as well as none Ngok Dinka residents.
Despite the overwhelmingly optimism that dominated the recent Addis Ababa summit, however, the final agreement ignores the notion of one package solution. The fate of Abyei was left with utmost uncertainty to be decided by AU and the United Nation Security Council. Also, the issue of border demarcation and contested areas were compromised to buffer zones instead of pursuing with practical procedures of demarcating. If President Al Bashir is not respecting sovereignty of states such as the Unity State and Northern Bahr El Ghazal state, then the buffer zone will be considered as a free area for launching attacks against South Sudan.
Al Bashir last mockery statement at the end of summit in which he ensured the readiness of his administration to implement Abyei Protocol is a sort of political manoeuvring. If he had interest for final deal over the issue of Abyei, he would have admitted the proposal presented by the Africa Union without reservations. Al Bashir's intention to fight the issue of his indictment on crimes against humanity always prevents him not to compromise to the level of final peace with the Republic of South Sudan. His strategy is to keep manufacturing lies of ownership to Dinka villages across the border in order to negotiate with South Sudan until his death.
As we are aware, the issue of Abyei was expected to be resolved through the early report of Abyei Boundary Commission (ABC), but the NCP has successfully turned down that plan on the ground that experts had exceeded the mandate to define and demarcate the area of the Ngok Nine chiefdoms, but that accusation had been completely refuted by the members of ABC.
It seems our negotiating team despite its good faith and intention in advocating the issue of Abyei they adopted a sort of slow approach in broaching the issue of Abyei. Since independence the issue of Abyei has got slim chance as a separate agenda simply because the issue has already been tackled through Abyei Protocol and Arbitration as well. If that preposition is genuinely true why are we allowing Khartoum to occupy and kill the innocent people in Abyei? Sometimes, our negotiating team talks more about the proposal of their opponent concerning Abyei rather than explaining their own proposal. Even though our proposal is embedded on single word of referendum yet, we must articulate and educate the public how the upcoming referendum in Abyei will be different than the previous one. Did we put in place things to avoid similar confusion? Without resolving the question of voting, we would be repeating same mistakes that brought destruction to Abyei.
The previous attempt by Government of Sudan to divide Abyei was an act of creating embarrassment and distraction over the issue of referendum. The Ngok Dinka have entrusted the SPLM to negotiate on their behalf but not to give away some portion of their lands. But for purposes of peace, the Ngok Dinka in the presence of their representatives had accepted division and demarcation by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2009. Whether Sudan government recognizes or not, there will be no such kind of other division.
After quarter-century on negotiating over issue of Abyei, the AU and Security Council need to ensure peace by adopting the last proposal presented by Africa Union. Once again the President of South Sudan H.E. Gen. Salva Kiir is wisely rolling the ball to international community, not only to pass the abiding decision on Abyei referendum, but also to nominate the head of commission to conduct voting in the region.
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