Africa-Press – South-Sudan. South Sudan’s First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny who doubles as the leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) is ready to dialogue for a settlement of ongoing disputes within the main armed opposition group, a spokesman allied to the country’s First Vice President has said.
Gatwech broke away from Machar to form a SPLM-IO faction of his own in August. The split within the SPLM-IO followed an attempt by Gatwech, Johnson Olony and Thomas Mabor Dhol, to remove Machar as chairman and commander in chief of the SPLM-IO, accusing him of trading opposition causes for positions at the generals’ expense.
However, SPLM-IO Director of Information and Public Relations, Puok Both Baluang, who doubles also as the Acting Press Secretary in the Office of the First Vice President, said the group still considers Gen. Gatwech and Olony as part of it and that Machar is ready to talk with the opposition commanders to settle the internal wrangle.
“We will welcome them and we will talk because this is the internal matter of SPLM/A–IO and the leadership of SPLA-IO is more than ready to dialogue with them so that we can resolve this matter. The reasons for declaring their group as they all know was something we have been calling for and we think it is better to dialogue and resolve this concept for all,” Baluang said, according to City Review.
He said the Kitgwang Declaration is a violation of the SPLM-IO constitution, arguing that they are not members of the SPLM Political Bureau for them to take political decisions.
“The three generals who declared the Kit-Gwang group were not politicians and they are not members of the Political Bureau. What they have done is contradictory [to] our constitution and the principle of the party and they had called for the dissolution of the leadership of SPLM/A-IO,” Baluang said.
“It is unrealistic to accept their declaration while it is illegal according to our constitution unless they want us to adopt something else and we will accept to dialogue with them on how to resolve the matter if they have [heeded] to the ceasefire,” he stressed.
He further called on the people of South Sudan to cease the ‘nature’ of rebellion. “Our nature as South Sudanese sometimes we differ before we talk or we discuss. If there is an issue let’s discuss it first and resolve the matter,” Baluang stressed.
