Country’s First Vice President in the Unity Government (Courtesy photo)
By Tereza Jeremiah Chuei
The leader of the main opposition Party Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), Dr Riek Machar slammed the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Government (SPLM-IG) questioning them about where they get funds for their party mobilization.
Dr. Machar accused his rivalry party the SPLM-IG, telling them to stop using government funds and say they are ready for election.
In May this year, the ruling SPLM party launched its party renaissance, a massive nationwide mobilization campaign of the SPLM party where the Interim Party Secretary General Peter Lam Both toured across the ten states rejuvenating the party manifesto, holding massive rallies across the nation.
The SPLM renaissance initiative, was aimed at popularizing the ruling party mission ahead of 2023 General Election.
The SPLM party has been carrying out several rallies in the States, mobilizing the people to rally behind President Salva Kiir ahead of the anticipated 2023 General elections. This alarmed the SPLM-IO party that seems to have limited resources to question, wondering where the SPLM-IG has been getting its funds to conduct its massive mobilization campaigns, if not from the government coppers.
Speaking during the launch of the SPLM/A-IO Membership registration, Dr Riek said the country hasn’t made the constitution yet, and since they are still under the transitional period, questing where the SPLM-IG is getting their money to launch a big program of campaign.
“There are groups, they have started with a big program, it’s their right, those red people {SPLM-IG}, and it’s their right to begin, but we ask the question, where are they getting the money from, just imagine that if we get to know! so which law have they used? And the law isn’t yet ready,” Dr Machar questioned.
He now demands that they also be given the share of the national resources if it’s so that SPLM-IG are using them for their campaigns.
“So we also request the same things to be given to us, so if the red is given, we also should be given, because all of us are citizens of this country, if it’s the constitution then we are part of the constitution, and they are also part of the constitution too, if they got this right from the constitution, we too are in the constitution,” Machar argued.
He called on the SPLM-IG to desist from selfishly using the public funds for their own benefits saying ‘Stop Eating the Government Money Alone’.
He interjected that if it’s the Political Parties Pill, that grants the SPLM-IG the privilege to use the government monies then they (SPLM-IO) are also in it, though he objected that amended Political Parties Act is not yet ready.
“It’s still, so we have the right to request, the blue that is ours is from our own special program/business, so please don’t eat the government alone, and because they got that back-up/push, they say they are ready for election, my people this is cheating/Hypocrisy,” Dr. Riek alleged.
He blasted the rivalry party accusing them of using the government budget to put themselves at a prepared position for the elections.
“Don’t take the things for the government and say you are ready, give it to everyone and we all can be ready, that is how the competition is supposed to be, about the election, no one is refusing the election, the one who is not doing things official is the one who doesn’t want elections,” Dr. Riek argued .
Meanwhile, Dr. Riek stressed the need to have the unified forces graduated and deployed in their respective areas to allow the citizens feel secured, before going for elections.
“We said to do elections this country should be secured, we have to secure it, graduate the forces, deploy them, so that the citizens can trust, we still have people who are still in the refugee, we should return them, because they have the right to come and vote in their home country,” the SPLM-IO chairman emphasized.
He further reiterated that currently the country doesn’t have the constitution, and the necessary laws for elections, saying they should finish implementing faster so that they do the elections.
No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper’s efforts to reach the SPLM party leadership for their reactions to the allegations made against them by SPLM/A-IO were not immediately successful by press time.