South Sudan’s VP vows to reject ceremonial president

December 23, 2014 (NAIROBI) – South Sudanese vice president, James Wani Igga, has vowed his government would not accept a ceremonial president even if violence had to continue unless the armed opposition faction of the SPLM-In-Opposition (SPLM-IO), led by former vice-president Riek Machar, dropped their demand.

On 12 December, the opposition group resolved in a consultative conference in the rebel-controlled town of Pagak in Maiwut county of Upper Nile state, that a power-sharing arrangement between the president and prime minister based on a peace agreement, would leave the former a ceremonial head of state with few powers while the latter becomes head of government with majority of the executive powers.

The proposal tabled by the SPLM-IO during this week’s round of the peace talks in Addis Ababa under the mediation of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) also resolved that a leadership structure during a transitional period would comprise the president and the prime minister.

Senior rebel officials also told Sudan Tribune that the position of the vice-president was unnecessary in the special arrangements in which the parties to the conflict agreed on a temporary system which resembles parliamentary executive leadership.

The opposition group also accused president Kiir of being an obstacle in the reform agenda and would not trust him to lead a transitional government.

In his key note address to the conference in Pagak, the rebel leader accused Kiir’s government of “emasculating” institutions.

“The country has now become a police state characterised by disappearances and assassination of dissenting voices and emasculated state institutions,” Machar said.

However, Igga who deputises the 64-year old president Salva Kiir, who has been in power for nearly 10 years, said his government would neither accept a powerless president nor back down and relinquish his position as second man in command.

“We will never, never give in to a ceremonial presidency, even if it means we box each other,” he said.

The vice president made these remarks while addressing a group of South Sudanese at the Kenyatta International Convention Center (KICC) on his visit to Nairobi as the representative of president Kiir at Kenya’s recent Jamahuri Day celebrations.

He also declared the government would stick to its 24 November resolutions in Juba in which they also rejected federalism, referring it to a referendum vote or permanent constitution-making process.

But Sudan Tribune has learnt that in the recent Phase III session in Addis Ababa the two parties agreed on federal system of governance as proposed by the rebel group. They could, however, not agree on the name of the state as Machar’s group wanted it called Federal Republic of South Sudan, which the government rejected.

As well as thee are many other contentious issues on governance, security arrangements and economic reforms, there are gaps and stalemate on leadership structure and division of executive powers.

IGAD officials have warned of punitive measures against the belligerent parties should they not bridge these gaps and sign a peace agreement to end the one-year war.

(ST)