Blame SPLM members, not party for South Sudan failure: official

January 20, 2013 (BOR) – A member of South Sudan’s ruling party (SPLM) has told his comrades and the public not to blame the party as an entity, but its members for failing to fulfill their rightful obligations.

“A lost member of SPLM is the one who says SPLM is dying rather than saying that the members are not fulfilling their deputies,” said Philip Thon Nyok in a statement issued during the party caucus meeting held in the Jonglei capital, Bor, on Saturday.

Nyok is a member of parliament representing Bor county in the state legislative assembly. He was elected as an MP during the 2010 general elections.

Many citizens across the new nation have complained about poor basic services in the country, with leading politicians at the forefront blaming the government for the failure, he said.

“There is the SPLM party and the members assigned to the organs of the party from the national level down to Boma levels. The party [SPLM] is clean like Jesus Christ, but the members in charge of the organs may be wrongdoers”, he continued.

He described the south-ruling party as a “democratic” government, committed to developing the new nation without any external interference.

“The SPLM party [way of] governance is democratic but should not be a meaningless democracy which will entertain South Sudan parties influenced by Khartoum just to impede the development of South Sudan”, he said.

During the caucus meeting, Nyok also accused neighboring Sudan of allegedly putting the southern regime on a “rough” road.

“UNITED WE STAND”, SAYS THE GOVERNOR

During the meeting, which was organised to inform SPLM members about their roles and rights within the party, Kuol Manyang Juk, its Jongeli state chairperson urged members to stand united to work for the prosperity of the new nation.

“Unity is power, divided we fall, united we stand”, said Manyang, who is also the state’s governor.

He further appealed to members of the south-ruling party to continue to exchange ideas that would contribute to the success of the party as well as governance of the world’s youngest nation.

“The war of liberation is still continuous, our people [are] in poverty, we lack basic services [but] we cannot achieve all that we need, if we are divided,” said Manyang.

(ST)