As tensions rise following the arrest of Dr. Riek Machar, SPLM-IO members are divided. Those in hiding accuse the members in Juba of supporting an an alleged SPLM-IG plot to replace him, while those in Juba accuse the members in hiding of fleeing and abandoning him under house arrest.
SPLM-IO Deputy Chairman Oyet Nathaniel issued an
order suspending four senior members for allegedly supporting SPLM-IG
activities aimed at abrogating the peace agreement and replacing Dr. Riek
Machar as First Vice President and SPLM-IO Chairman.
The suspended members include Stephen Par Kuol, Minister of
Peacebuilding and member of R-JMEC in his capacity as Secretary General of the
National Transitional Committee (NTC); Agok Makur Kur and Ding Lam, both
national MPs; and Luke Thompson Thoan.
Stephen Par Kuol in an interview with Radio Tamazuj rejected the suspension, calling it the 'joke of the
year' and accusing Oyet of fleeing and abandoning the Chairman under house
arrest in Juba.
“It is a joke of the year. Nathaniel does not have
constitutional powers to do that. He's doing it because he ran away, and he
does not control anything now. His problem is that he's hearing that we are
organizing an NLC,” Par stated.
Information Minister and Government Spokesperson Michael
Makuei announced that Deputy Speaker Oyet Nathaniel and his SPLM-IO allies,
including General Yey Dak, Deputy Director General for Operations of the
National Security Service; General Wilson Walebe of the South Sudan People’s
Defense forces and Pal Mai Deng, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation,
fled Juba in fear of arrest to unknown location.
Par said he and the SPLM-IO group in Juba do not recognize
Oyet’s authority, accusing him of fleeing and leaving the chairman under house
arrest, adding that Oyet cannot claim leadership while abandoning the Political
Bureau and National Liberation Council in Juba.
“He's trying to do that because we are actually going to
delink ourselves from them. They are rebels and we are with the government,”
Par stated.
“The group inside here, our position is very clear. We call
for the release of our chairman. We call for ceasefire and the peace process on
track. That is the political position of everybody, including the chairman.”
“Oyet is not the chairman. I'm not the chairman and nobody
[can dismiss me], I can be dismissed only through a disciplinary process in the
political bureau.”
Par, who was detained and released by the government over the Nasir conflict, rejected accusations of supporting SPLM-IG's plot to replace Dr. Machar and accused Oyet of violating party rules and agitating false claims.
