Senior SPLM official criticizes party’s draft constitution, warns of “red lines”
May 7, 2013 (JUBA) – A leading official in the ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), has strongly criticized the circulated draft of the party’s constitution, saying it has many shortcomings that do not help further the internal transformation process.
Nyandeng, the widow of the late founder of the SPLM, John Garang de Mabior, warned of what she described as “red lines” in the provisions of the party’s supreme law that will pave way for the upcoming national convention scheduled for later this year.
She said the party must conduct “primary elections” at grassroots level and elect representatives who will delegates at the convention to confirm or elect a new chairperson of the party.
The late leader’s widow has for many years been critical of how the party’s affairs have been managed; attracting speculations that she wanted to compete and unseat the current South Sudan President and chairperson of the party, Salva Kiir.
In recent days, several senior SPLM figures have privately suggested that she has decided to support the Vice President and deputy chairperson of the party, Riek Machar to take over from Kiir.
Nyandeng however said the current status of the draft constitution is not worth it as the political bureau did not agree on certain provisions included and decided to refer the matter to the National Liberation Council (NLC) and the national convention for final decisions.
Among the issues debated upon was the need to apply the universal election practice of “secret ballot” instead of “show of hand”, which is seen to be an act of intimidating the would-be voters during the party upcoming elections.
The SPLM national convention was supposed to take place this month in accordance with the party’s constitution. The last convention took place in May 2008.
The need to transform the party was prompted by reports from the ten states’ SPLM secretariats which said the SPLM has “lost vision and direction.”
Top party leaders including Machar have reportedly criticized Kiir on the grounds that he failed to provide effective leadership to the party.
Machar also declared his intention to replace Kiir during the politburo meeting on March 5.
The VP also criticized him in government for not effectively navigating the country in the state-building processes, saying he has not been seriously tackling issues of corruption, tribalism, economy, insecurity and international relations.
Kiir, according to an official in the party secretariat who asked to remain anonymous, acknowledged the prevalence of the issues mentioned, but promised improvement and appealed to the politburo to give him more time.
He would also contest for the party chairmanship in the 2015 elections so that he continues as president of the government until year 2020.
(ST)