Machar delays selection of deputy

JUBA – South Sudan’s main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar has delayed the selection of a deputy for the group’s leader, but said deliberation is still ongoing.

The Press Secretary in the Office of the First Vice President and Director of Information and Public Relations Committee of the SPLM-IO, Puok Both Baluang, said the meeting has completed the filling of national liberation council members in the states.

“We have finished with the filling of vacancies on the National Liberation Council for all states, and currently, we are listening to the reports from the states and administrative areas, and we are still here, but the appointments of the deputy chairperson are still pending, although it is one of the agendas remaining,’’ Baluang told the City Review.

“Yes, it is on the agenda, but again, it depends on time whether the deputy chairman can be announced today, and we still have some vacancies within the political bureau (PB),” the senior opposition official added.

In his address to the meeting yesterday, Machar urged the reconstituted parliament to expedite the formation of the specialized committee which has been delayed by the continue disagreement over who take which committee.

“Some of the prerequisites for elections are: the security arrangement completed, the refugees come back, the displaced go back to their places, you have to conduct a census as a requirement of the agreement, and you must have a permanent constitution,” Machar said yesterday.