General Khamis Abdel-Latif Chawul Lom, a former security official, has called on President Salva Kiir Mayardit to appoint the leader of a breakaway faction of the SPLM-IO as first vice president, replacing Riek Machar.
Machar, a principal signatory of the 2018 peace agreement and leader of the SPLM-IO, was placed under house arrest in March, raising fears of renewed political instability.
Government officials said Machar’s detention was linked to a criminal investigation and not politically motivated. They added that he would only be removed from office if wrongdoing is confirmed.
In early April, the SPLM-IO split into two factions, further deepening political divisions in the country.
A Juba-based group led by Peacebuilding Minister Stephen Par Kuol declared interim leadership and vowed to continue implementing the peace deal alongside Kiir. However, several senior SPLM-IO members boycotted the move, reaffirmed their loyalty to Machar, and endorsed his deputy, Oyet Nathaniel, as acting chairman until Machar’s release.
In late April, government officials aligned with Kiir outlined plans to move forward with the 2018 peace agreement without Machar’s faction, including recognizing Kuol’s SPLM-IO group.
In a statement on Sunday, Gen. Khamis said that following the announcement of joint military operations between the SPLA-IO faction under Oyet and the rebel National Salvation Front (NAS) led by Gen. Thomas Cirillo, the government should immediately appoint the Juba-based SPLM-IO leader as first vice president.
“Oyet Nathaniel issued a statement yesterday criticizing the president and officially announcing that the 2018 peace agreement is over and has failed to achieve its objectives,” Khamis said.
“The country’s leadership must act quickly and issue decisions to preserve the peace agreement in coordination with the IO faction led by Amb. Stephen Par,” he added.
Khamis, a Kiir ally and former SPLM-IO member, said Stephen Par is a senior SPLM-IO figure and a seasoned politician capable of assuming the role. He urged the country’s leadership to take swift and decisive action in replacing Machar with Par.
“It is important that individuals working with Stephen Par are also appointed. Delays in decision-making on this matter are not good because this gives space to the international community and international organizations to intervene,” he said.
SPLM-IO officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Reacting to Khamis’s remarks, Edmund Yakani, a civil society activist and peace observer, warned that internal SPLM-IO power struggles undermine the spirit and intent of the 2018 peace agreement aimed at transitioning from conflict to peace.
Yakani said any unilateral action that violates or fuels a stalemate over the fate of the 2018 deal would amount to an “act of peace spoilers.”
“The R-ARCSS [Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan] remains the only legitimate political framework for transitioning the country from violence to peace, based on the signatures of the parties,” he said.
He added: “Undermining the legitimacy of any one of the signatories to the R-ARCSS is undermining the legitimacy of the peace agreement itself. Fueling political splits among the signatories is an act of weakening the foundation of the R-ARCSS.”
Gen. Khamis was among those accused of plotting a coup against Kiir in December 2013. He briefly served as Director General of state-run South Sudan TV in 2014 and was involved in a power struggle with Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth.
He also served as Security Advisor at the Ministry of Interior before being dismissed and later appointed to the Police Service by Kiir in November 2013.
In January 2015, Khamis defected to the SPLM-IO, then led by rebel leader Riek Machar, but later abandoned the group and rejoined Kiir’s faction.