Machar ‘no longer fit’ to lead, commanders told to boycott SPLM-IO leader

JUBA – South Sudan’s main armed opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, is no fit to lead the SPLM-IO, according to former opposition governor of the defunct Sobat state, Duer Tut Duer, who said in an interview on Monday that opposition commanders have also been instructed to boycott Machar.

The comments by the senior opposition commander comes a day after a senior SPLM-IO official land close ally of First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny said in an interview with Sudans Post on Sunday that Duer has lost his membership of the SPLM-IO National Liberation Council because he qualified for the position of the top decision maker for his previous position as governor which is no longer with him now following the dissolution of the 21 states created in 2014.

Speaking in an interview published by Radio Tamazuj on Monday, Duer said he has directed the military commanders of the SPLA-IO to boycott the National Liberation Council which was held in Juba last week, because Machar himself does not fit to lead the main armed opposition group saying a conference will be held early next year to chose a successor.

“We have directed all our military officers, members of the Liberation Council and Political Bureau, that Machar is no longer fit to be the chairman of the movement and we ask them to boycott the Juba meeting,” Duer said in the interview.

“The only solution to this confusion is that in 2021, we are going to present a general reform for the SPLM-IO,” he stated, adding that the conference “will not be a one-man show [because] it will be collective efforts to reform our movement.”

“We will look back and resolve mistakes that our movement has gone through and to see how we can get them done. We will see how we are going to prepare ourselves to implement our objectives as we head to the national elections.”