S. Sudan leadership clarifies dissolution of ruling SPLM organs

October 20, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s vice president, James Wani Igga, said recent dissolution of structures of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) was incorrectly relayed to the media, appealing to the public to take his version as the correct one.

Igga in a statement he issued on Tuesday said it was only the SPLM national secretariat which was dissolved during Friday’s meeting of the National Liberation Council (NLC) in the capital, Juba, and that both the party’s highest executive organ, the Political Bureau (PB), and the legislative organ, the NLC, had remained intact, contrary to previous statements.

“This NLC meeting resolved the dissolution and restructuring of the General Secretariat only, but all other organs of the SPLM remain intact (unaffected by the resolutions),” Igga, who is the deputy chairman of the SPLM, wrote in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

He said the purpose of the NLC meeting was to prepare for an extraordinary convention of the SPLM by November 16, 2015, in order to pass two documents including the constitution of the party and its manifesto.

He said after the Friday’s dissolution of the national secretariat, president Salva Kiir, who chairs the party, will restructure and reconstitute it.

The party’s deputy chairman also revealed that the other organs of PB and NLC will be dissolved before convening of a third national convention in the next few months.

He urged the former detainees led by the former secretary general of the now dissolved secretariat, Pagan Amum, and the opposition faction of the SPLM-IO, led by former vice president, Riek Machar, to participate in the upcoming third national convention to elect new leadership.

He clarified that there will be two conventions in the next few months, first the extraordinary convention to be conducted not later than 16 November and a regular third national convention to be conducted thereafter, saying NLC and PB will be dissolved in the third convention.

Earlier, South Sudanese minister of foreign affairs, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, who defended the decision made by the party’s national liberation council to dissolve “party structures”, told reporters that only the office of the chairman remained intact.

“The dissolution of the structures of the SPLM except the office of the chairperson was a decision made by the national liberation council as an internal party decision. It is about reorganization of the SPLM so that the party moves forward with its activities,” Marial said on Sunday.

President Kiir’s spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, also said the president had “nullified” process of reunification of the SPLM factions by the act of dissolution, which again removed Amum, a recently reinstated secretary general of the party per Arusha agreement on the reunification.

However, the party’s deputy chairman, Igga, on Tuesday said his version of the decision was the correct one, saying the resolutions of the last week’s NLC meeting will be availed to the public “soon.”

“The SPLM members and the public at large are therefore, hereby, asked to take this as the true and correct version and spirit of the last NLC Resolutions of 16th October 2015,” he said.

It was not clear why it took several days for the senior official to clarify the resolution. He could not also explain why the resolution was not availed to the public and the media at the time for correct dissemination.

Observers however say the dissolution of the national secretariat was targeting Pagan Amum, the secretary general, and head of the former detainees.

Amum was accused by the government of signing the peace agreement on 17 August together with the opposition leader, Riek Machar, 9 days before president Kiir followed suit on 26 August.

Igga however said the dissolution will not affect the reunification process of the party factions initiated in Arusha, Tanzania, last year.

It also remains unclear whether or not the SPLM in government will discuss and pass a new party’s constitution and manifesto without participation of the other SPLM factions without risking accusations before reunification.

(ST)