Mabior Garang sets conditions to reconsider resignations from top SPLM-IO position

JUBA – The chairperson of the SPLM-IO National Committee for Information and Public Relations Mabior Garang De Mabior has set conditions for him to reconsider his resignation from the senior SPLM-IO position which he submitted to the SPLM-IO leader and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar last week.

In a resignation letter last week, Mabior said the main armed opposition group has been hijacked from within and does no longer follow the visions and objective of the group.

“I have decided to appeal to the leadership to instead address the issue which is prompting my desire to resign and which has caused the resignation of numerous Comrades,” Mabior said.

“It has become painfully obvious to everyone –  in the movement and the public at large – that the SPLM/SPLA (IO) has been hijacked by an unscrupulous interest group which has more in common with the traditional power elite in Juba, than they do with the revolutionary leadership of our movement,” he added.

Mabior further said: “This interest group which has hijacked the peoples’ movement is part of a larger conspiracy to undermine peace in our country. I have labeled them the NPTC regime. These are the Comrades who have been influencing the decisions of the movement, rendering the PB a rubber stamp body.

“The National Liberation Council (NLC) is even less relevant, having never held a National Convention. These are the exact grievances we had against the SPLM (IG). If this is what we have become, perhaps we owe the regime and the people of South Sudan an apology for pretending to be about reforms.

“This interest group has effectively silenced the voice of the movement – the National Committee for Information and Public Relations. They have created an atmosphere in which those who insist on the reform agenda and want to inform the public of the failure to implement the Agreement are branded ‘anti-peace hard liners’.

“We have been silent in the face of a botched disarmament in Tonj East County, Inter-communal violence across the country, the premature withdrawal of the UN from the Protection of Civilian Camps (PoC), economic meltdown and more.

“The SPLM/SPLA (IO) was founded in response to what we perceived as a nepotistic and authoritarian family business practiced on a national level. We joined the movement to contribute our faculties to the cause of fundamental change to the barbaric status quo in our country and we have dedicated our lives to this cause.

“If the political leadership of the movement has surrendered to the status quo, as leaders and founding members, we deserve to know. There are some of us who would rather return to our homes and continue to wage the struggle for change using non–violent methods.

“If the political leadership of the movement has not surrendered to the status quo, I call on your Comradeship to urgently convene a meeting of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) PB, NLC and the army’s top brass in a neighbouring IGAD country so that we can make revolutionary corrections. If we bury our heads in the sand and ignore the problem, it will add to the many sources of insecurity already present in our nascent Republic.

“I would like to add my voice to the request of our army’s Chief of Staff, General Gatwech Dual, for a meeting of our leadership so that we can discuss the peace process and other internal crises which have led to a loss of vision and direction.”