Aweil community celebrates defection of NCP member to SPLM
June 23, 2007 (JUBA) — Aweil community in Juba has celebrated the defection of two-hundred and sixteen members of the National Congress Party (NCP) to the SPLM party in Northern Bhar El-Ghazal State on 30 May.
The Aweil community in Juba, which is affiliated to the SPLM party organized a welcoming ceremony to this group on 17 June, at Nile Comfort Hotel, in Juba.
The former Minister of Finance, Government of Southern Sudan, Arthur Akwein, stated during the ceremony that their defection from NCP party to SPLM is a great achievement for SPLM and a loss to NCP. He says the welcoming ceremony was organized at community level and it is up to the SPLM as a party to organize their own ceremony in honour of the large number of the defectors.
However, Ayaga Garang Deng Nyang, one of the intellectuals of the Aweil community, says Dhieu Mathok, (who heads the defecting group) and his group joining SPLM, are welcomed into the Aweil community but not SPLM until they proved themselves genuine members of the party.
In response, Dhieu stated that their Joining of the party is completely genuine and already accepted by the SPLM leadership under Salva Kiir Mayardit.
The Speaker of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, James Wani Igga, told the Aweil community that SPLM is the only political party that all the southerners and other marginalized groups in Sudan have hope in.
“But we can only bring changes if we the southerners are united, and forget of our political differences,” says Wani Igga. He further says that he is very happy with the decision taken by greater Aweil community to organize such a gathering to welcome the defecting NCP members.
(Juba Post)