{"id":54819,"date":"2024-03-15T17:13:35","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T17:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes"},"modified":"2024-03-15T17:30:24","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T17:30:24","slug":"machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes","title":{"rendered":"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. <\/strong><\/span>RUMBEK \u2014 At least 70 senior officials from the main armed opposition Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by First Vice President Riek Machar have defected to the ruling SPLM faction under President Salva Kiir Mayardit in Lakes State.<\/p>\n

Poth Madit, the defectors\u2019 leader and former SPLM-IO-nominated Deputy Governor of Lakes State, announced his defection alongside other top party officials to President Salva Kiir on Thursday at the SPLM House in Rumbek, the state capital.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Sudans Post following their defection, Madit said he defected with three members of national parliament, twelve members of the state parliament, including the opposition chief whip, three state ministers, a gubernatorial advisor, three heads of state independent commissions, four members of the group\u2019s National Liberation Council (NLC) and others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have defected to the SPLM along with other comrades and the [defection] event has been organized today in the SPLM house. I have 70 people so far, and they include leaders from the government and leaders who are in the party structure in the state. This is not a list of membership; it is a list of leadership,\u201d Madit said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey include those who are in the government, three national MPs, three ministers, four heads of commissions in the state, and twelve members of the state parliament. Among them is a chief whip, two chairpersons of specialized committees, one deputy chairperson of a specialized committee, plus the former commissioner of Yirol West,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

The senior opposition official alleged that the main armed opposition group doesn\u2019t represent the aspirations of the people of South Sudan, and that the he believes the SPLM-IO doesn\u2019t adhere to the idea of democracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur three or four years stay in the SPLM-IO have made us understand that the SPLM-IO doesn\u2019t represent the aspirations of the people of the Republic of South Sudan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe the SPLM-IO doesn\u2019t adhere to the idea of democracy. That is why we have decided collectively as politicians to resign to prove to the people of South Sudan that we didn\u2019t join SPLM-IO for positions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Machar\u2019s party has experienced significant setbacks in recent years, particularly following the signing of the revitalized peace agreement in September 2018 in Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

The latest defection deals a significant blow to Machar, who is expected to compete with Kiir in the country\u2019s first-ever elections scheduled for the end of the transitional period.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Sudan. RUMBEK \u2014 At least 70 senior officials from the main armed opposition Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by First Vice President Riek Machar have defected to the ruling SPLM faction under President Salva Kiir Mayardit in Lakes State. Poth Madit, the defectors\u2019 leader and former SPLM-IO-nominated Deputy Governor of Lakes State, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":54818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234,265,233],"class_list":["post-54819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-sudan","tag-south-sudan"],"yoast_head":"\nMachar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes - South Sudan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"RUMBEK \u2014 At least 70 senior officials from the main armed opposition Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"RUMBEK \u2014 At least 70 senior officials from the main armed opposition Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Sudan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-15T17:13:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-15T17:30:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2024\/03\/sm_1710511050.10585.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"870\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-15T17:13:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-15T17:30:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes\"},\"wordCount\":426,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2024\/03\/sm_1710511050.10585.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Sudan\",\"South-Sudan\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes\",\"name\":\"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes - South Sudan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2024\/03\/sm_1710511050.10585.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-15T17:13:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-15T17:30:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"RUMBEK \u2014 At least 70 senior officials from the main armed opposition Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2024\/03\/sm_1710511050.10585.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2024\/03\/sm_1710511050.10585.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":870,\"caption\":\"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/\",\"name\":\"South Sudan\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes - South Sudan","description":"RUMBEK \u2014 At least 70 senior officials from the main armed opposition Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes","og_description":"RUMBEK \u2014 At least 70 senior officials from the main armed opposition Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes","og_site_name":"South Sudan","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2024-03-15T17:13:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-15T17:30:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":870,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2024\/03\/sm_1710511050.10585.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes","datePublished":"2024-03-15T17:13:35+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-15T17:30:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes"},"wordCount":426,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2024\/03\/sm_1710511050.10585.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-South-Sudan","South-Sudan"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes","name":"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes - South Sudan","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2024\/03\/sm_1710511050.10585.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-15T17:13:35+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-15T17:30:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"RUMBEK \u2014 At least 70 senior officials from the main armed opposition Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2024\/03\/sm_1710511050.10585.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/sites\/32\/2024\/03\/sm_1710511050.10585.jpg","width":1920,"height":870,"caption":"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/all-news\/machars-grip-weakens-as-mass-defection-hits-splm-io-in-lakes#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Machar\u2019s grip weakens as mass defection hits SPLM-IO in Lakes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/","name":"South Sudan","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54819\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-sudan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}