Two political parties have emerged to represent…
1965 CE
The SANU, founded in 1963 and led by William Deng and Saturino Lahure, a Roman Catholic priest, operates among refugee groups and guerrilla forces.
The Southern Front, a mass organization led by Stanislaus Payasama that had worked underground during the Abboud government, functions openly within the southern provinces.
After the collapse of government-sponsored peace conferences in 1965, Deng's wing of SANU—known locally as SANU-William—and the Southern Front coalesce to take part in the parliamentary elections.
The grouping will remain active in parliament for the next four years as a voice for southern regional autonomy within a unified state.
Exiled SANU leaders balk at Deng's moderate approach to form the Azania Liberation Front based in Kampala, Uganda.
Anyanya leaders tend to remain aloof from political movements.
The guerrillas are fragmented by ethnic and religious differences.
Additionally, conflicts resurface within Anyanya between older leaders who had been in the bush since 1955, and younger, better educated men like Joseph Lagu, a former Sudanese army captain, who will eventually become a stronger leader, largely because of his ability to get arms from Israel.
