South Sudan’s main opposition party, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), is in a crisis after members of a splinter group replaced First Vice-President Riek Machar, who is under house arrest, as party leader.
Stephen Par Kuol was named interim chairman in the controversial decision arrived at during a meeting in Juba on Wednesday, which was largely boycotted by top officials of the party.
The group also named former Federal Affairs minister Lasuba Wango deputy interim chairman and Agok Makur interim secretary-general.
Conspicuously absent were key SPLM-IO figures Angelina Teny — Machar’s wife and Interior minister -- as well as the party’s secretary-general Regina Joseph Kaba. Their absence underscored the deepening internal divide, with loyalists denouncing the meeting as illegitimate and politically driven.
In his address after the announcement, Par announced the immediate suspension of Machar’s deputy, Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, who is currently in exile.
“Someone who fled cannot run the affairs of the movement from Facebook,” Par declared, insisting that the SPLM-IO headquarters remain in Juba, not online.
The “ouster” is the culmination of internal tensions within the party, with Machar sidelined due to his restricted movement under what many describe as politically motivated house arrest.
Earlier this week, Oyet issued a statement suspending Par and others for allegedly colluding with the government of President Salva Kiir to unseat Dr Machar.
Observers warn this could be the most serious split in SPLM-IO since its formation in 2013, coming at a critical juncture, when the 2018 peace deal is almost dead.
South Sudanese expect another shake-up in the Transitional government of National Unity, as the coalition government is known, including officially naming Stephen Par as First Vice President, the position currently held by Machar.
If confirmed, this would upset the delicate power-sharing arrangement established under the peace agreement of 2018, under which the coalition that included SPLM-IO was formed, and push the country to a deeper political crisis.
Observers say replacing Machar without consensus would effectively render the revitalised peace agreement null, raising fears of renewed instability in the world’s youngest nation.
