Cabinet meeting postponed over bad political mood in Juba
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July 12, 2013 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s cabinet has postponed its regular
weekly meeting due to suspected bad political mood in the presidency.
JPEG - 45.6 kb
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar pay
their respects at John Garang’s Mausoleum, during the celebration of
the 2nd anniversary of South Sudan becoming an independent state, in
Juba, July 9, 2013 (Reuters)
Of recent, there have been cracks in the top leadership as the ruling
party (SPLM), seems to have failed the test of democratic
transformation through internal self-criticisms and renewals as the
differences threaten to paralyse the office of the president.
Journalists from various media outlets always go to the premises of
the Council of Ministers every Friday to cover the weekly cabinet
meeting, but were informed this time that the meeting had unusually
been cancelled.
"It was the second time that the cabinet could not meet. Last month it
could not meet on a Friday due to lack of agenda despite the huge
challenges the country faces. But this time it was due to political
bad mood in the top leadership", said a senior official close to the
presidency.
The official told Sudan Tribune that the cancellation came as a
directive from the president Salva Kiir, adding that he could see a
visible "bad mood" from the face of the president which probably
couldn’t make it possible for him to attend to the meeting.
The official further said the ongoing internal crack within the top
leadership over the future of party chairmanship and 2015 presidential
elections caused the differences.
The ruling party, that fought a war for decades, has been struggling
to transform itself into a vibrant political organization capable of
establishing a democratic foundation in the new country and leading it
to prosperity.
The SPLM is yet to adopt its basic documents such as the constitution,
manifesto, internal regulations and code of conduct, after which it
will be registered as a political party in the new republic.
The party is lagging behind the schedule as it was supposed to elect
its new leadership since May this year that would carry the torch to
2015 elections.
The vice-president, Riek Machar, also deputy chairman of the SPLM,
declared his intention to contest for the party’s chairmanship since
March as well as for the 2015 presidential elections.
Machar, who commended president Kiir for successfully leading the
region to independence during the six years of the interim period from
2005, however insists there were post-independence challenges of
nation-state building that need redress.
He outlined corruption, growing tribalism, weak economy, insecurity,
poor international relations and SPLM’s loss of vision and direction
as some of the critical drawbacks to the ruling-party’s future.
But Machar’s decision to contest for the party chairmanship has caused
friction between him and the president.
In his public statements, Machar said contesting for such a position
was healthy and a right of every citizen in South Sudan which should
not cause a problem.
The president on the other hand saw it as an unwelcome challenge to
his leadership particularly that he wants to contest for a third term
in office.
The matter was exacerbated by the recent removal of Unity state
governor, Taban Deng Gai, in which the vice-president, who was not
consulted by the president prior to the decision, questioned the
constitutional legality of his removal.
Machar has already written to Kiir challenging his decision to remove
an elected governor.
The internal party debates have also stirred up anger in some leaders
and tend to avoid contacts with those they perceive to be in the other
camp.
There have been rumours this week that Kiir may take a decision to
remove Machar, a rumour which sends fears of possible crisis as the
move would be seen as politically motivated and without a
justification given the fact that the two have already differed over
the party’s transformational process.
Kiir’s anger in response to the letter was visible during the
celebrations of the 2nd anniversary of independence on 9th July when
he failed to acknowledge the presence of his deputy, yet he
acknowledged the presence of Machar’s junior colleagues, such as the
two speakers of the national legislature.
The lack of acknowledgement of his deputy was picked by journalists,
including those from the UN-sponsored Miraya radio which announced the
strange emotional occurrence, expressing self-embarrassment to the
leadership that showed its internal differences before the guests of
foreign dignitaries, including five heads of states.
The two leaders rarely meet, the official said, adding that President
Kiir on Friday morning had to go to his cattle camp in the outskirts
of the capital, Juba, near Luri Bridge on the road to Western
Equatoria state, while directing for the cancellation of Friday’s
regular cabinet meeting.
Machar reportedly called for a meeting with the various ministers and
top army and police officials to prepare them for the expected visit
of the African Union verification team on the alleged harbouring of
the Sudanese rebels from South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The president’s move was seen to avoid contacts with Machar or other
ministers who were also rumoured to be in his list for possible
reshuffle.
CITIZENS EXPRESS MIXED REACTIONS:
"The two leaders should stick together. They together led the people
of South Sudan to independence. I don’t want to see them quarrelling
now. They have been working together tirelessly. They should find a
way of resolving their differences”, said David Manyok, a motorbike
rider in Juba.
"I thought the [transitional] constitution gives every citizen the
right to contest for any position including the position of the
president. And I believe the SPLM party has a constitution which
stipulates the same right as long as one can meet the requirements per
the law," said Gatluak Wan from Upper Nile state.
The president should not take it personal and allow his mind to be
disturbed by mention of contest against his party chairmanship, he
added.
"Let the contest happen in a peaceful democratic way."
A Juba-based trader, who asked to remain anonymous blamed the
vice-president for his early expression of interest to challenge Kiir
for the presidency.
"He [Machar] should have waited until 2015 when the time comes for
elections. How come he wants to challenge a sitting president? he
asked.
Another citizen, who only identified himself as Garang said the
president was mobbed by "bad" advisers and that it was the main reason
why he often took hurried decisions.
"These advisors will continue to lead the president to wrong
decisions. I love the president, but he needs to free himself from the
people who want him to lead this nation to chaos,” he told Sudan
Tribune.
Meanwhile, Daniel Kenyi urged Kiir as the chairman of the ruling party
to call for a national convention to elect a new leadership.
"If he [Kiir] wants to contest again, that is fine. But he should also
respect the aspirations of others who want to compete against him. I
don’t think our president is ready to take an action that may plunge
this country into chaos just to protect his leadership", he said.
(ST)
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