Dr. Lam Akol refutes President Kiir's allegations against SPLM-DC AUG. 02/2012, SSN; During his speech on National Martyrs' Day Commemoration on July 30, President Kiir directly accused the official Opposition party of South Sudan, the SPLM-DC, of 'being used by Sudan's government to stage a coup against his government.'
Now, the Chairman of the SPLM-DC, Dr. Lam responds.... Summary and translation of an interview conducted by Ms Lucy Edward of Radio Miraya FM with the Chairman of SPLM-DC, Dr Lam Akol, on Tuesday the 31st of July 2012. Q: The President in his speech yesterday accused the SPLM-DC of working with the National Congress Party (NCP) to destabilize his government. What is your reaction to this? A: I would like to seize this opportunity to salute our martyrs- from time immemorial through 2005 and up to today- who paid the ultimate sacrifice for South Sudan to be now a free, independent and sovereign state. Regarding the question, there is nothing new in the allegation. The SPLM leaders have been repeating this allegation right from the birth of SPLM-DC up to now when it is three years old. We have always been challenging them to produce evidence and I still say the same today. They should take their evidence, if they have any, to court. It is the courts that will prove or disprove the allegations. Let me say this: SPLM-DC organs are now functioning and running in South Sudan and they have no links with the NCP. In fact, it is the SPLM that is in partnership with the NCP as a result of which the NCP is represented in the current SPLM government. There is no doubt that this false allegation is now meant to detract the attention of the citizens of South Sudan away from the life difficulties they are facing as a result of the bad policies and failures of the SPLM and its government. Today, half of our population is in need of food aid, our children have no schools to go to, the population is lacking health services, the insecurity is widespread, etc. All this is happening because the SPLM leaders have embezzled our money and the President is incapable of bringing a single culprit to book. He wants to make the SPLM-DC the scapegoat for the difficulties our people are facing, but our people are cleverer than he thinks. The President also threatened not to register SPLM-DC. Well, this says volumes about his attitude and that of his party. If it is the President who decides which party to register or not to register, what is the work of the Political Parties Affairs Council that is tasked by the Constitution and the law with just doing that? The SPLM does not respect even its own imposed constitution and laws. The truth is that the SPLM is working to establish a one-party state in South Sudan. In the Political Parties Act 2012, they set out conditions for the registration of parties which they thought will be impossible for any other party to meet. Now, they have realized that the SPLM-DC, their bogey, is going to meet those conditions. This is causing fear and panic within the SPLM leadership. The President is exposing a secret decision taken already by his party. He wants to scare the public not to register with SPLM-DC. I would want to assure our people that nobody will stop SPLM-DC from being registered because we are law-abiding and we shall meet the conditions set out in the law and we know our rights. Q: What do you think is the solution to the problems facing the country now? A: When I met the President in Nairobi on 28th of September last year, we discussed this matter. We agreed that they as the Government and we as the Opposition should join hands to tackle together the challenges facing the newly born nation so that it could kick off on the correct footing. In Juba- and in October to be specific- I presented to him written proposals on the issues of national consensus that will help us get out of the problems facing us. They include: unity in diversity, tackling insecurity problems, relations with Sudan, Foreign Policy perspectives and economic outlook. He was appreciative but later the hawks in his party scuttled this national project. They have nobody but themselves to blame. I still think this is the way out of our current situation. If they come back to it we are ready to co-operate. Q: What do you think is the way out of the current talks in Addis Ababa between South Sudan and Sudan, especially now that US is threatening to impose economic sanctions on both parties? A: The fundamental problem with the talks in Addis is that they are between two parties rather than between the two countries. Both parties have openly said that they would want to effect a regime change in the other’s country. No talks could succeed in such an atmosphere. I think that there is a better chance of making progress if the talks were to be transformed to be between the two countries. The delegation of South Sudan should include parties other than the SPLM and the delegation of Sudan should include other parties in addition to the NCP. Then and only then, would the attention be focused on the issues rather than on the fear that one party is working to get rid of the other. As to the imposition of sanctions, my advice to the delegation of South Sudan is to persevere in seeking to secure through negotiations our interest on all the outstanding issues. We should not be forced to compromise for the fear of sanctions because our interest is paramount and nobody knows it better than ourselves. Q: Finally, if I may ask, many are asking the question as to why you are staying outside South Sudan. A: Where one stays is determined by a number of factors. Personal safety is the first consideration. Second, I do not have a house in Juba and the rent there is quite exorbitant, whereas I have my own house in Khartoum. Third, I do not hold a government position in South Sudan so that I am obliged to stay there. Regarding my duties as the Chairman of SPLM-DC, in this age of information and communication technology, I do not need to be full time in Juba to be able to carry them out. I go to Juba from time to time as was the case between October and December 2011, but carry out quite normally the other functions wherever I may be. The organs of my party all over the country are functioning well and there is no indication that the work has stopped or was impaired by the Chairman’s absence from Juba. We are a party of institutions, not individuals. The SPLM tried recently to exploit this matter in order to split the party but failed miserably. END (PS: Our warmest appreciation goes to all friends and supporters who forwarded this interview to the Southsudannation.com website. We thank you all for your support, Editor) COMMENTS, PLEASE CLICK HERE Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author(s) and do not represent those of the website. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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