By Bida Elly David
The chairperson of SPLM-IO political bureau Dr. Riek Machar Teny has rubbished the decree issued over the weekend by President Salva Kiir to remove the minister of defense from her political position demanding immediate reinstatement of Angelina back to her position.
This response came following a meeting held by the SPLM-IO political bureau on the republican decree issued by the President of the Republic of South Sudan on the emergency removal of Angelina Teny from her position being the defense minister of the Country.
In a press statement seen by No.1.Citizen Daily Newspaper yesterday, the First Vice President of the republic of South Sudan condemned, rejected and rubbished the decree issued by the president terming it to have been out of the agreement signed.
“The political bureau condemns and rejects the unilateral removal of Hon. Angelina Teny as Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs in violation of article 1.13.1 which gives each party to the agreement the power to remove representatives in the council of ministers and nominates replacements by notifying the president,” the statement reads.
In the statement, Dr. Riek said that the swapping of the ministries equally violates the provision of Article 1.12.1 of the agreement which requires the parties to agree on the allocation and selection of ministerial portfolios in the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU).
Furthermore, the SPLM-IO has called on the re-instatement of Angelina Teny back to her position with immediate effect since the decree dictated over the comprehensive agreement signed on allocation of positions per political parties.
“The political bureau calls upon the president to revoke the unilateral decree and the republican order and reinstate Hon. Angelina Teny as Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs,” Dr. Riek reacted.
Moreover, SPLM-IO reiterated that the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity(R-TGONU) was founded on the collegial cooperation through legal decision making before the international community that fully witnessed the dialogue.
“In light of the above violations, the political bureau would like to point out that the R-TGoNU is founded on the premise of collegial collaboration in decision making and continuous consultations within the presidency, between the presidency, the first vice president and the four vice presidents to ensure effective governance during the transitional period driven from Article 1.9.1,” he said.
Dr. Riek in his statement said that SPLM-IO remains committed towards full implementation of the revitalized agreement in letter and spirit.
President Kiir over the weekend issued a republican decree for the removal of the national Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs and the Minister of Interior.
However, the decree against the Minister of Interior never affected the ministry since it falls under the mother party.
According to James Boboya, the President made a comprehensive error by decreeing the minister of Defense without consulting the concerned political party, noting that it was a total violation of the agreement signed.
He said that President Kiir was right to relieve the minister of interior based on the fact that he emerged from SPLM being the mother party.
However, James added that the agreement has defined which political party is to undertake the leadership of each ministry saying that the president of the republic would have consulted the agreement before issuing decrees.