Sudan opposition alliance denies holding leadership meeting
May 8, 2023 (NAIROBI) – South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) has dismissed as untrue reports that its leadership meeting was held on May 2.
SSOA’s spokesperson, Stephen Lual Ngor said party was were surprised by a statement Josephine Lagu issued on behalf of the opposition alliance.
“The statement indicated that there was a meeting of the alliance leadership on 02/5/2023, which is incorrect as the leadership of SSOA didn’t hold any meeting this month, and the last meeting of the leadership was more than three months ago,” partly reads SSOA’s statement.
It added, “This confirms the lack of credibility of Hon. Josephine [Lagu], and that she impersonates the alliance parties in order to pass her own agenda in implementing external interests that do not represent the positions of the parties that make up the alliance”.
The opposition alliance further clarified that Hussein Abdelbagi, the Vice President for Service Cluster was chosen as SSOA’s representative at the presidency and leadership of the coalition did not impose any restrictions on how he performs his tasks towards implementing the goals of SSOA.
“….Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi in his capacity as the most prominent leader of SSOA in South Sudan, has the right to represent the interests of the coalition ex officio,” stressed the statement.
The opposition alliance reiterated its commitment to implementing the revitalized peace agreement stressing that it is a moral obligation towards citizens of South Sudan by maintaining peace and stability in the country.
“Based on the foregoing, we want to assure the parties to the agreement and guarantors of the agreement that the statement published by Hon. Josephine does not represent the coalition parties in any way, and that the opposition leadership did not hold any meeting on the date mentioned in her statement, so we consider the statement from Hon. Josephine not to represent positions of all parties constituting the SSOA,” it concluded.
Meanwhile, SSOA has now agreed to swap Jonglei state governorship with the ruling party (SPLM) and will take the position of deputy governor.
The decision emerged after President Salva Kiir tasked SSOA’s leadership to find ways of addressing the simmering governance crisis in the state.
Gabriel Changson Chang, a senior member of SSOA, told reporters in Juba on Monday that said they are contented with the new arrangement for the sake of restoring peace and a functional administration in Jonglei.
Under the new arrangement, SSOA will take up a ministerial position in the national government, a special envoy post and the deputy governorship.
In September 2018, members of the South Sudanese opposition alliance signed a final peace agreement with President Kiir as one entity under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
(ST)