What vision for Southern Sudan?
Southern Sudan can be defined as an alliance of free counties, or as an union of equal counties in Southern Sudan. The goal of this union: to provide freedom and prosperity to each county, and to the people of each county. 3. Why to choose the counties (or districts) as the main political building blocks? Ethnic groups are the most relevant social organisations in Southern Sudan. If this fact is not addressed properly, ethnicity creeps back into the system in the form of tribalism. And the recent past has shown what enormous damage ethnic conflicts can bring to Southern Sudan. The importance of the tribal structure of the society has to be recognised, but to define Southern Sudan as mainly a tribal federation might create more problems than it would solve. The introduction of territory as main parameter accommodates two different needs: it provides a defined space for ethnic identities, and a defined space for urbanised and mixed populations. The preference of territory over ethnic aff
