SPLM leaders condemn arrest of two Warrap lawmakers
May 10, 2015 (JUBA)- Leaders of South Sudan’s ruling party in Warrap state have described as “unacceptable” the manner in which security agents arrested two MPs, calling for their immediate release.
“I just received unofficial information that two comrades in the state legislative assembly have been arrested. I don’t know the cause. I have no clear information up to this moment,” Mawien told Sudan Tribune Sunday.
“What I have heard is inadequate. I was only told that comrade Ariech Mayar Ariech and comrade Amet Kuol have been arrested and it is still not clear what they have done to be arrested without seeking approval from the speaker and without writing to the party to inform the leadership of the cause of this action”, he added.
According to the aide, the ruling party leadership awaits communication from state authorities who arrested the MPs, what prompted their action and if the state assembly was informed.
The deputy SPLM chairperson in the state, Andrew Kuac, also confirmed the arrest of the legislators and said the leadership was surprised of the arrest of its members without notification of all relevant institutions in the state concerning the MPs’ arrest.
“There is a way we do thing as the party at all levels of our structures. We have a parliamentary caucus of the SPLM in the legislative assembly which acts as a supervisory body of the activities of our members in the parliament, either in the state or at the national legislative assembly,” said the senior ruling party official.
“The SPLM parliamentary caucus is the one that reports to the party on the activities of each member,” he added.
Kuac said the manner in which the two lawmakers were arrested was a “clear act of humiliation which cannot be condoned”.
“As the party, we reject this behaviour and call for their immediate release”, he said, stressing the needs for investigation into the matter.
“Our first priority now is to ensure they are released immediately after that the party will constitute a committee to investigate the cause of this act, so that the senior leadership and the entire SPLM membership are informed”, added the SPLM official.
The acting secretary general of the SPLM office in Warrap, William Deng Nhial, said the governor’s decision on the MPs was “outside the law and cannot be encouraged”.
“Until now, we do not know the reasons for which these comrades have been arrested. We have no clear information because the leadership was not informed. But what I know is that there is always a way to handle political matters. If there was an issue, their immunity should have been waived first. The parliament should have been informed and also the SPLM leadership, because they are our members. They have now been arrested like criminals, which is totally wrong,” Nhial said on Sunday.
He added, “This is humiliation and nobody encourage it. As the party, we would like this matter to be handled wisely”.
James Machok Arol, a member of parliament from Tonj county said the governor’s action was “intolerable,” adding “she [governor] was doing it because she knows nobody would her hold accountable”.
“What happened is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated even though she knows nobody would hold her accountable. But we will not entertain it. She is saying, if Malong Awan in Aweil has done it before, if Rizik Zachariah in Western Bahr el Ghazal has done it and Matur Chut has done it in Rumbek, then why not her?” asked Arol.
“This is what she says and it is the reason she takes such action”, he added.
The legislator said the governor took such action to intimidate and silence her critics from speaking about her activities, especially those who question her performances.
“These actions are nothing but strategies designed to intimidate those who are speaking out about corruption and other malpractices which her administration is involved. The whole thing is to divert the attention away from questioning her activities and the performance of her government,” Arol further stressed.
“So this action is just a cover up but I don’t think she will succeed, because she has embarked on a dangerous path”, he added.
The speaker of Warrap state legislative assembly, Moses Madot Madut Deng said he was notified by state government, which sought his approval, but said the request was too late to be replied.
“The letter was sent late on Thursday and the assembly was in the process of replying it but the members got arrested before we could make a response to the executive. The legal advisor of the assembly was still working on it so that the house could make a decision based on the legal advice”, Deng exclusively told Sudan Tribune by phone.
The top legislator said that the letter from the governor contained two charges for which she was seeking parliamentary approval of the detention of the legislators by the security services in the state.
“They [detained MPs] are alleged to have organised a demonstration to take place this Monday. The other charge is that they are alleged to have supported demonstration which was staged by students of Kuacjok secondary school recently,” he said.
Further added the assembly speaker “These are the two charges in the letter”.
(ST)