Kiir cautions critics over dissolution of SPLM structures - Article <http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article48922#tabs-1> - Comments (43)<http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article48922#tabs-2>
[image: email] Email<http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?iframe&page=enviar_email_articulo&id_article=48922> [image: print] Print<http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?iframe&page=imprimable&id_article=48922> [image: pdf]Save<http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=spipdf&spipdf=spipdf_article&id_article=48922&nom_fichier=article_48922> [image: separation] [image: increase] <http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article48922#> [image: decrease] <http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article48922#> [image: separation] [image: separation] ------------------------------ November 24, 2013 (JUBA) - South Sudanese president Salva Kiir has dismissed critics opposed to his recent decision to disband all structures of the governing Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), saying the move was inevitable. Kiir, who is also chairperson of the SPLM, said he took the decision after officials failed to hold a national convention to elect or re-elect new party members. He made the surprise announcement during the official opening of a newly-constructed SPLM building in the capital, Juba, on 15 November. Senior party members, including his former deputy Riek Machar, have strongly criticised the move, saying Kiir’s actions have paralysed the party. “The president’s statement has created a paralysis in the party”, Machar said, adding that a party meeting scheduled for 23 November had “dissolved in thin air”. On Sunday, however, Kiir clarified his earlier remarks and stressed that the SPLM dissolved itself due to its failure to hold the national convention in May as is required every five years under the party’s constitution. The last national convention was held in 2008, three years before South Sudan seceded from Sudan. “I hear that some people are making unnecessary statements in the media and in the social gatherings, to the extent of even calling for my resignation if I do not like the SPLM”, Kiir said on Sunday. “If what the media reported is correct about the statements attributed to some people, then it is the history and our people to judge who should leave the SPLM”, he added. Kiir made the remarks shortly after chairing a meeting convened to discuss the composition of the committee tasked to reorganise the SPLM’s structures. *DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS?* Meanwhile, Kiir insisted the media had “misinterpreted” what he said on SPLM structures, instead of “quoting what I said, which they (the media) themselves recorded”. On Sunday, the country’s vice-president James Wani Igga joined the list of senior party officials who claim that SPLM structures are still in place. In a televised address on the state-owned *SSTV*, Igga maintained that the ruling party chairman will “soon” call for the National Liberation Council (NLC) meeting, thus the dissolution of the various organs will procedurally occur thereafter. The ex-national assembly speaker could not, however, explain why the party’s NLC meeting, initially scheduled from 23-25 November, had to quietly be postponed. Last week, the government spokesperson, Michael Makuei, also claimed media reports indicating Kiir had dissolved structures of the ruling party were “misinterpreted” and taken “out of context”. Despite the denials, the SPLM external relations secretary Susan Jambo issued a statement on 18 November confirming that Kiir’s remarks on the dissolution of the party’s structures were “factual”, largely contradicting Makuei’s words. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14oorR7gZPf53HuUikA_0Okg3bds7wfNJW0FcfNuHdNtywg%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
