Speaking of Bush...
I will never stop being surprised at how staunchly most South Sudanese I have met identify with the Republican Party (yes, the GOP). And not just in Juba.
This is mainly because we recognize that without Bush, Powell -and U.S administration putting pressure on both parties, and in particular the Govt of Sudan, we would not have had the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and... eventually our own country. This does not diminish the involvement of other countries, especially Norway, but it does recognize the significant contribution the U.S made in ensuring that the CPA was brokered.
But this has resulted in near total loyalty to the Republican Party. Regardless of whether or not we know anything about the GoP. And I don't think this will change soon- especially as i foresee our new nation starting to get more criticism especially on human rights issues. E.g., The U.S recently rebuked South Sudan for expelling the UNMISS Human Rights Commissioner, there's been criticism -from amnesty and human rights watch on the fact that we uphold the death penalty, and recently two prisoners were hung despite a very weak judicial system and poor conditions in the prisons, two weeks ago the police shot at school children who were protesting perceived land grab of their school property, the lack of press freedoms, etc. Things will get worse before they get better...
We also grumble about the fact that there is not enough pressure on Abyei and other outstanding issues from the CPA. We were shocked to have been criticized about Heglig/Panthou. We are going to continue to make diplomatic mistakes as we continue to learn...And all this under a democratic U.S leadership. So yes, I don't think S.Sudan will be soon supporting the democrats. Which makes me very uncomfortable.
But...... all this does underlie how important the CPA, elections and referendum were to us....and that South Sudanese will have life-long gratitude to G. Bush. And that's just how things are.
