South Sudan rebels deny targeting vice-president
November 19, 2014 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudanese rebels rejected claims that their demand to abolish the vice-president post from the proposed transitional leadership structure was an attempt to displace the incumbent James Wani Igga.
The proposal was presented by the mediators of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) during the last week’s 28th extraordinary summit by the regional heads of state and government in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
The government rejected the proposal and countered that in addition to the positions of the president and the prime minister, the position of the vice-president should also be maintained as well as create new positions of two deputies to the prime minister.
Igga in his earlier comments slammed the rebels’ proposal and vowed that he would not agree to be displaced again by Machar, arguing that the latter has in the past removed him from his position as SPLM second vice chairman during the merger between pro-Machar and late pro-John Garang factions in 2002.
Machar’s officials, however, said they never intended to personally target Wani nor was he displaced in the past as claimed.
The rebel leader’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, while responding to allegations that they were targeting the current vice president explained that Wani had never been senior to Machar in order to be displaced, also adding that there was never any personal problem between the two leaders.
“Such comments are misleading. Cde Dr Riek Machar has never displaced his former Cde James Wani Igga. He never did it and does not intend to do it. The original hierarchy of SPLM/SPLA is very clear in which Cde Dr Riek has been senior to Cde Wani since the formation of the movement in 1983,” Dak said.
“We also want to make it clear to everybody that there has never been personal differences between the two leaders,” he added.
Dak said those who claimed Machar displaced Igga in the past and want to do it again in the course of a peace agreement were trying to “distort history and develop resentments unnecessarily”.
He further explained that the merger agreement between pro-Garang and pro-Machar SPLM factions which he said was signed on 6 January 2002 in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, was to reunite the historical movement and its leadership, adding that the late Garang and Kiir were the only senior leaders to Machar in the movement’s hierarchy by 2002.
“This is the same reason Salva Kiir in 2002 continued to deputise the late chairman Dr John Garang and subsequently succeeded him in 2005, and Cde Dr Riek deputised Salva Kiir in that historical hierarchical order,” he said.
The opposition leader’s spokesman added that their proposal to remove the vice-president position had nothing to do with Igga as a person.
“Our proposal has nothing to do with Cde James Wani as a person,” said the rebel spokesman.
Dak also condemned as “malicious” separate media reports which alleged that the rebel movement was considering to remove Machar’s deputy, Alfred Ladu Gore.
The allegations suggested that Gore fell out with the rebels chief negotiator, Taban Deng Gai, who wanted him removed from the position of the deputy chairman.
“This is a malicious allegation by the enemies of peace. There is nothing of this kind,” Dak told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.
The two warring parties are locked in negotiations over power-sharing and leadership structures during a transitional period which duration is yet to be agreed upon by the parties.
(ST)