A veteran South Sudanese politician, Professor Peter Adwok Nyaba, denounced the creation of an interim leadership for the SPLM-IO party following the detention of First Vice President and SPLM-IO leader Dr. Riek Machar, calling it a “coup” meant to derail the 2018 peace agreement. He described the new body as “illegitimate.”
On April 9, a group of senior SPLM-IO members in Juba endorsed Stephen Par Kuol, the country’s peacebuilding minister, as the party’s interim leader, replacing Machar. Kuol pledged to serve only until Machar is released from house arrest. However, the meeting was largely boycotted by top SPLM-IO officials still loyal to Machar.
Kuol announced the interim leadership, naming himself as chairperson, Losuba Ludoru Wongo as interim deputy and Agok Makur Kur as interim secretary-general.
On April 27, Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro outlined plans to advance the 2018 peace agreement without Machar’s faction, including recognizing the interim SPLM-IO leadership in Juba, replacing his allies in key commissions, and accelerating election preparations.
In an interview on Radio Miraya’s Roundtable program Saturday, Adwok said: “That one is a coup and of course it was engineered from outside. It was something engineered from outside the SPLM-IO.”
He did not specify who was behind the alleged interference but referenced cracks within the party after Machar’s detention on March 26. President Salva Kiir accuses Machar of involvement in violence in Nasir County, Upper Nile State.
Adwok, a former SPLM-IO member and ex-minister, linked the interim SPLM-IO leadership’s formation to recent violence in Nasir and Ulang counties.
“This needs to be resolved on its own way. You cannot link it to R-ARCSS because the way R-ARCSS is, it has interfered with it, and it is a violation against the agreement,” he said.
“It is a violation because if you start disintegrating parties which are signatories to the agreement, it means that you are violating the agreement.”
Adwok argued that the interim leadership undermines the 2018 peace deal, calling it illegitimate.
“You cannot remove Riek whose name is written in the agreement as the first vice president and expect that the agreement will still be there. If they don’t want to remove Riek, what was the need for the action they took?” he said.
“The current situation is another violation of the agreement and it is being used to make another extension of the transitional period.”
Agok Makur, interim SPLM-IO secretary-general, rejected accusations of a coup, calling it an internal party arrangement.
“Since there is an absence of leadership, the party’s constitution gives us the right to arrange ourselves. We are not against Riek Machar,” he said. “Even during the meeting where we declared the interim leadership, we called for our chairman’s release. So how can we call for his release and make a coup against him again?”