Governors pledge their support to president Kiir’s leadership
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July 17, 2013 (JUBA) – Four governors announced that they would
support president Salva Kiir’s leadership in a move seen to be in the
light of the ongoing leadership contest between the president and his
deputy, Riek Machar.
JPEG - 14.1 kb
South Sudan President Salva Kiir waits for the arrival of his Kenyan
counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta, who is on his first visit to the region as
head of state, in Juba May 23, 2013. (Reuters)
Governors of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, Paul Malong Awan, Western
Bahr el Ghazal, Rizik Zechariah Hassan, Western Equatoria state,
Bangasi Bakosoro and Eastern Equatoria state, Louis Lobong Lojoro,
were summoned by the president on Wednesday where they discussed
issues of governance and mutual support to the leaderships.
Eastern Equatoria state governor, Louis Lobong, who spoke on behalf of
the four governors following their meeting with the President
announced on the State-owned SSTV that they had expressed their
support to president Kiir’s leadership.
He said besides discussing the general situations in their respective
states, they also assured the president about their support to him
towards 2015.
"We also renewed our unwavering support to his leadership, to this
government", governor Lobong said, adding that they will ensure to
guide the people to 2015.
He added that the president promised to support their stat
administrations and in return expressed their support to his
leadership.
The rare public tone by governors is a sign that the ongoing wrangling
in the ruling SPLM is still ongoing with political manoeuvres below
the tables.
The incumbent president Kiir is actively using his “power card” to
make sure that he moulds the thinking and opinions of the senior
executive members of government, most of whom are either members of
both politburo and national liberation council of the party, an
analyst said.
Kiir recently fired two national ministers and two elected governors,
sending a clear signal that even the elected officials will have to
succumb to his political wishes or may not survive their positions if
they were not politically with him to face his deputy.
“The president is utilizing the current constitutional powers in his
hands to intimidate and inculcate fears into officials. And this seems
to work well as you can see. Whether he uses the constitutional powers
in the right or wrong way is another thing,” Joseph Wani, a successful
business man told the Sudan Tribune.
Wani thought Kiir would successfully intimidate the officials who hold
their positions even if some of them had different views in the party
and government.
"He has succeeded to send panic to the officials who hold their
positions dear either as ministers or governors. They would not want
to risk their positions before the 2015 elections which is far by two
years", he added.
Out of the four governors that met with the president on Wednesday,
three are members of the ruling SPLM while the governor of Western
Equatoria, Bangasi Bokosoro, is an independent candidate who defeated
the SPLM candidate, the current national minister of Lands, Housing
and Physical Planning, Jemma Nunu Kumba, in the 2010 elections.
GOVERNORS PULLED OUT FROM THE SPEAKERS FORUM
The four governors were hurriedly pulled out from the governors’ forum
and had to miss important presentations and deliberations on Wednesday
morning as the word came that the president wanted to see them in his
office.
In the forum chaired by the vice-president, Riek Machar Teny, various
presentations and deliberations were made on the country’s permanent
constitutional making process, the principles of democracy and on
results of opinion polls of the South Sudanese citizens across the ten
states about the general view of the country’s affairs.
The speakers’ forum, in addition to the governors’ forum, was created
to address and tackle conflicts arising between the executive and
legislature or between the national legislature and the states’
legislative assemblies.
Speaker James Wani was among those who made presentations on issues of
governance in the country.
Attended by the governors and speakers of assemblies of the ten states
including their ministers of parliamentary affairs, it was also a
forum where representatives of the various institutions and levels of
government discuss the future of governance in the country.
MACHAR INSISTS TO CONTEST FOR THE TOP LEADERSHIP
Vice-president Riek Machar said the decision to contest for the SPLM
chairmanship was a final decision and that there was no turning back,
adding this was a constitutional right of every citizen in the
country.
In various public statements, Machar said his decision was a healthy
democratic exercise which should not cause a problem.
His intention is to contest for the chairmanship of the ruling party,
SPLM, which is due to elect a new leadership this year, but delayed
since last May.
Machar however said even if he won the chairmanship of the SPLM this
year, he would still be committed to work together with the incumbent
president until 2015 when the president will step down and the new
party chairman will contest for the presidential elections.
However, there are frictions to such a transition as the ruling party
is not historically used to such democratic transitions of power.
Kiir’s succession to the late founder of the SPLM, John Garang de
Mabior, was seen by many as a smooth entrance to power since the
senior SPLM members including the current vice-president and deputy
chairman, Machar, all supported Kiir to take over as the most senior
official in accordance with the historical hierarchy of the movement.
Other unilateral decisions were always met with resistance. An example
was a widely speculated attempt by the late chairman, John Garang, to
replace his deputy, the current president Kiir, with the current
Foreign Minister Nhial Deng Nhial in 2004 before the CPA was signed.
The decision almost split the movement again but the two leaders were
successfully reconciled in Rumbek in November 2004 under the mediation
efforts of the current vice-president, Riek Machar.
In 2008, Kiir unilaterally decided to replace Machar with either the
current Speaker James Wani Igga or the current minister of Justice
John Luk Jok, before the party national convention.
The decision caused the first row between the two leaders and
threatened the collapse of the party’s hierarchy when Machar reacted
by declaring his intention to contest for the chairmanship position
and leave his seat to James Wani.
But the whole initiative was later on abandoned and the status quo
continued for the next five years until today.
(ST)
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