The SPLM was formed as a
Marxist–Leninist,
socialist rebel movement on 16 May 1983, after the Government of Sudan's abandonment of the
Addis Ababa Agreement signed between the government of
Gaafar Nimeiry and the
Anyanya leader
Joseph Lagu, who had first introduced the southern Sudanese to the effective political, economic, social, educational, and religious situations they would face after Sudan's independence. The movement published a manifesto setting out its positions and attracted a group of rebellious southern Sudanese soldiers of the Sudanese Army based in
Bor,
Pochalla, and
Ayod (first called the Bor Mutiny). These joined remnants of the Anyanya rebels of the
First Sudanese Civil War based in
Ethiopia. Founders of the SPLA (the military wing of the movement) included Captain
Salva Kiir Mayardit, Samuel Abu John Khabas, Major
William Nyuon Bany, Major
Kerubino Kuanyin Bol and many other southern Sudanese officers of the
Sudanese Armed Forces.
Joseph Oduho was made chairman of the SPLM and Colonel
John Garang, a
Dinka army officer, was made commander of the SPLA. Oduho was later deposed by Garang, who made himself overall leader of the combined movement (SPLA/M). The Government of Sudan has been associated with
Islam and
Arab descent and culture since then, in deep contrast with the SPLA, associated instead with Africanism, indigenous beliefs, African culture and, to a degree
Christianity. It fought against the governments of
Gaafar Nimeiry,
Sadiq al-Mahdi and
Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir in what is now called the
Second Sudanese Civil War. SPLA/M's declared aim was to establish a democratic Sudan with it as the leading party in control of the southern areas. The war has been largely described in
religious and
ethnic terms, and also as a struggle for control of the water and oil resources located in southern and western Sudan. In the late 1980s, Marxism–Leninism was abandoned in favor of a broadly Socialist platform. The Sudanese government accused
Uganda and
Eritrea of supporting the SPLA/M, who were alleged to have operated on the Ugandan side of the Sudanese border with Uganda at the southern limit of Sudan. In 2005, a treaty between the SPLA/M and the Sudanese government led to the formal recognition of
Southern Sudanese autonomy. SPLM joined the government as part of the 2005 peace agreement, gaining about one-third of government positions. On 11 October 2007, the SPLM withdrew from the government, alleging violations of the peace agreement; this raised concerns about the future of the agreement. In 2012, as a consequence of
South Sudanese independence, SPLM became the new country's governing political party and the SPLA the country's army. The Sudan branch separated from the movement and formed
SPLM-N to carry out anti-government activities in Sudan.
Factionalism •
SPLM-DC (Democratic Change, 2009–present) •
SPLM–N (North, 2011–present) • SPLM-IG (In Government, 2013–present) •
SPLM-IO (In-Opposition, 2013–present) • SPLM-FD (Freed Detainees, 2015–present) • R-SPLM As a result of the
South Sudanese Civil War in 2013–2014, the SPLM factionalised into the SPLM-Juba, led by President Salva Kiir, and SPLM-IO (in opposition), led by former Vice President Riek Machar. ==Notable people==