February 24th 2020 (Nyamilepedia) – The National Democratic Movement (NDM) led by Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin has rejected the appointment of Hussein Abdelbaggi as vice-president representing the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) in the six-person presidency.
President Salva Kiir on Sunday sworn-in Abdelbaggi as vice-president amid disagreements within the group over who should represent the opposition consortium in the presidency as provided for in the revitalized peace agreement.
In a statement, the NDM said it was not a part of the decision reached by some SSOA leaders to refer the decision on nomination for vice-president to the president and that the action violates the revitalized peace agreement the alliance signed with the government over a year ago.
“NDM would want to declare that it was not part of the decision to refer the matter to President Salva Kiir. And since decisions of SSOA are taken by unanimity it is not bound by the decision and its outcome,” the statement signed by the NDM spokesman David Lawrence Lual partly reads.
“And therefore the action taken by President Salva Kiir is a clear violation of Article 1.5.2 of the R-ARCSS,” the statement added.
The statement further argued that since President Salva Kiir is a leader of one of the signatories to the revitalized peace agreement just as the NDM is, the group said it “cannot accept referring the matter to him.”
