Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The South Sudanese opposition group United Democratic Resistance Movement (UDRM) led by Deng Vanang has withdrawn its membership from the South Sudan United National Alliance (SSUNA), accusing Pagan Amum Okiech, leader of the Real SPLM party and head of SSOMA, of conspiring to sideline them in ongoing peace talks mediated by Kenya.
Vanang, in an interview with Sudans Post on Monday night, claimed SSUNA chairman Stephen Buay Rolnyang, under pressure from Pagan, influenced their decision to withdraw membership from the opposition alliance.
“The culprit influencing our move to quit SSUNA is none other than General Pagan Amum Okiech,” Vanang said. “He influenced SSUNA Chairman and SSPM/A leader, General Stephen Buay Rolnyang to expel us right from the beginning of the talks on 9th May. We resisted through dialogue and diplomacy, but to no avail.”
He added that the decision to withdraw was made to avoid further conflict during the talks, which he said could have caused embarrassment to the Kenyan mediators and foreign observers presence in the Kenyan capital.
“Seeing matters progressively moving from bad to worse, we humbly and peacefully decided to call it quits, otherwise it could be a national embarrassment to the Kenyan mediators and foreign observers seeing us South Sudanese quarrelling in front of them,” Vanang explained.
Vanang accused Pagan of prioritizing personal gain over achieving peace. He also suggested that Pagan and Buay proposed the expulsion of President Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar from power “due to alleged war crimes,” while proposing amnesty for themselves.
“Okiech, according to his narrow view, seems to believe the peace agreement is about dividing up the spoils of war, prioritizing which Nuers get the biggest slice of the pie, rather than addressing the root causes of the conflict for the benefit of all South Sudanese,” Vanang said.
UDRM, previously a member of SSOMA, was initially invited by Kenyan mediators to participate in the talks under the umbrella of SSUNA on May 9th.
The group had been part of SSOMA, but when the alliance split into factions led by Pagan and National Salvation Front (NAS) leader General Thomas Cirilo Swaka, UDRM remained with the Cirilo-led SSOMA.
However, they departed from Cirilo’s faction a few months before the launch of the Nairobi talks.
On June 5th, Deng Vanang formally informed Buay of his decision to suspend UDRM’s membership in SSUNA in a letter obtained by Sudans Post. Another opposition group, the Nilotia People’s Movement, has also withdrawn its membership from SSUNA.
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