President kiir hopes to leave behind united ruling SPLM after retiring

December 14, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudanese president Salva Kiir is ready to leave behind a strong, united and harmonious ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) when he retires from politics, an official close to him said Monday, pointing out that lack of patience and tolerances threatened survival of the party.

“I have always advised people not to rush. If all of us have accepted and behaved the way others did and left when we were faced by so many challenges at the time of forming the movement, there would not have been South Sudan today,” the official who quoted the president told Sudan Tribune.

“There would not have been a country today, the SPLM we are proud of today would not have been there and the democracy we are talking about would have remained a dream,” president Kiir told a group of senior party officials seeking his opinion on how the draft constitution, manifesto and code of conduct and the basic guiding rules and regulations of the governing SPLM should be incorporated into the Arusha intraparty reunification agreement.

President Kiir, according to the official, allegedly revealed that he personally approached in New York, United States, former Tanzanian president, Jakaya Kikwete, while visiting the headquarters of the United Nations to facilitate internal dialogue and see how best his party could resolve its leadership differences amicably to avoid disintegration.

The party official emphasized that reunifying the SPLM was very important and that a lot of political supports were needed to help the president whom he said was at “a critical moment” of making decision to move the country forward or remain in vicious cycle of anger and lack of commitment to addressing the real issues which he said have been “overshadowed by personal ambitions and power struggle between members aspiring leadership positions.”

“There are many opinions and views these days which makes it difficult for comrade chairman to make decisive and prompt action. There are comrades who feel that the Arusha agreement has been dishonoured by other comrades, especially those in SPLM-IO (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition). They have their own parallel and similar structures. They have national liberation and leadership council, which is equal to political bureau. They have appointed their own secretary general, appointed their own deputy chairman and even they have chief of general staff of their armed forces. They are a complete set. They are doing this after signing Arusha reunification agreement,” he said.

The official, a close ally of the president, praised him as humble, compromising and someone he said expressed readiness to leave behind united SPLM with development objective and harmony.

“I know comrade chairman is ready to leave the leadership but it should be a strong, united and harmonious SPLM. He has said this in many occasions and his decision to accept reunification of the SPLM is a demonstration of his willingness to leave behind united SPLM when he leaves,” he stressed.

It was not clear when the president had planned to leave the party or in which manner and to whom as successor.

However, the comments by the official on behalf of the president contradicted earlier statements from the president himself which warned of inevitable split of the SPLM, referring to those seeking to return to the party or to take over its leadership from him as “behaving like dogs” that leave and come back with the same attitude.

(ST)