By Emelda Siama John
The President of the Republic of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit and the First Vice President and chairman and commander-in-chief of the SPLM\SPLA (IO) Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon have adjourned the meeting which was supposed to take place yesterday to Thursday 9 March 2023.
The meeting was planned to discuss the recent republican Decree and Republican order issued by the president on 3rd of March 2023 that removed Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs and swapped the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs with the ministry of Interior.
In a press statement seen by No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper early this week, the First Vice President of the republic of South Sudan has 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 Machar 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,” 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 should ensure effective governance during the transitional period driven from Article 1.9.1,’’ he said
Machar in the statement said that SPLM-IO remains committed towards full implementation of the revitalized agreement in letter and spirit.