South Sudan president rejects rebels’ declaration of his illegitimacy
April 29, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudanese president, Salva Kiir, has strongly rejected a declaration by the armed opposition faction led by former vice-president, Riek Machar, who described him as illegitimate head of state and called for dissolution of his government.
The resolution also urged regional and African leaders and the international community at large to proclaim Salva Kiir’s regime illegitimate and to demand its immediate dissolution in order to give peace a chance.
The rebel group; which rejects the recent extension of the presidential term; said if elections were not conducted due to the ongoing civil war, then the only alternative to renew leadership in South Sudan was to reach a peaceful settlement to the conflict and form a transitional leadership and government.
But a presidential advisor quoted president Kiir’s reaction on Wednesday, saying the head of state described the declaration of the opposition as “nothing new” from the previous demands which asked him to step down.
He also warned that any plan by the opposition group involving foreign powers would be “a blatant interference in the internal affairs and would be resisted.”
Speaking to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday, the presidential advisor on decentralisation and intergovernmental linkage, Tor Deng Mawien, said such calls on the president to step down were “non-starter.”
“South Sudanese people who elected president Salva Kiir and bestowed upon him the trust and confidence reject such calls and the president of course has the obligation to accept their positions, because he did not elect himself but obtained the legitimacy from the people who now condemn these divisive and destabilising demands from some of our self-centered, disgruntled and misguided people,” a visibly looking angry Mawien told Sudan Tribune Wednesday.
Mawien said any decisions taken outside the current process of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) working plan would be considered an attack on the national sovereignty and a flagrant interference in internal affairs.
The official said such demands were not in the interests of South Sudan and would not prevent the country from “advancing its political reforms and bringing security and stability to its people.”
International and local humanitarian organisations estimate that hundreds the Nuer ethnic community were killed in the Juba events in December 2013, and forced several others in hundreds of thousands to seek sanctuary at the camps manned by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
President Kiir and members of his government said the events were triggered by an attempted coup masterminded by former vice president Riek Machar and his colleagues.
Machar dismissed the charges and accused Kiir of the plan to cover a plot aimed at targeting his critics in the leadership in order to silence them with a view to muzzle calls for internal reforms in the party.
In Juba, president Kiir on Tuesday addressed graduating students from Juba University, where he said he wanted to bring peace back to the country so that the nation could focus on development.
He appreciated the parliament for amending the transitional constitution and extending his term of office for the three more years.
(ST)
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