SPLM-IO official tells internal rivals seeking to unseat Machar to wait for convention

JUBA – A member of South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, SPLM-IO, is telling internal rivals of First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny who is also the group’s chairman to wait for convention instead of launching what he said is propaganda on social media.

A group within the main armed opposition group led by former SPLM-IO governor of Sobat state, Duer Tut Duer, is seeking to replace Machar who they have accused of failure for accepting to return to Juba before implementation of important provisions of the revitalized peace agreement.

Members of the internal rival  group which call themselves “reformists” have been calling for impeachment of Machar, but Governor Duer himself has not come out publicly to demand that. However, the senior SPLM-IO official had in the past called for Machar’s resignation over his “failures.”

In a statement this morning, Dut Majokdit, a senior member of the SPLM-IO in Northern Bahr el Ghazal said the anti-Machar internal SPLM-IO group was creating what he calls irrelevant statements to mislead the SPLM-IO and South Sudan public.

“The anti-Machar are all the times creating irrelevant statements to mislead the Public. They’re running up and down to fabricate propaganda to confuse the political situation to create argument for the opportunists to leave,” Majokdit said in a statement he extended to Sudans Post.

The senior Northern Bahr el Ghazal state official said it was “madness in the highest order to call for the impeachment of Dr. Riek Machar Teny at this time of peace implementation. Dr Machar has been stipulated in the agreement as the FVP until the End of the Transitional Period.”

“Duer Tut Duer hardliners are told to wait for the SPLM-IO National Convention for Duer Tut Duer  to contest for the Chairmanship of the People’s Movement otherwise the impeachment process is done by the SPLM-IO National Liberation Council not the individuals on the streets of Khartoum.

“The SPLM-IO has its Constitution I hope the Facebook reformists should read the four documents: The Manifesto, The Code of Conduct the Constitution and the Internal Regulations.”