June 19, 2020 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s main armed opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar Teny is set to convene a consultative meeting of the two SPLM-IO organs, the Political Bureau and the National Liberation Council, to nominate governors, a senior opposition official said.
This comes after Machar, who is the SPLM/SPLA (IO) chairman and commander in chief, and President Salva Kiir Mayardit reached a landmark deal on Wednesday bringing the establishment of the state governors closer than ever.
Machar will nominate governors for the oil-rich Upper Nile state, Western Equatoria, and Western Bahr el Ghazal according to Machar and Kiir’s aides.
“The Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of SPLM/A-I0, Dr. Rick Machar Teny-Dhurgon would like to invite the members of SPLM/A-IO Political Bureau, National Liberation Council and Peace Mechanisms to attend leadership meeting on Saturday, June 20, 2020,” a statement by Machar’s office chief protocol said.
The statement added that the meeting will be conducted at Machar’s office near the ministry of parliamentary affairs in Juba tomorrow, Saturday.
Separately, a senior government official said on condition of anonymity that the meeting will discuss the nomination of state governors, two days after the group reached an agreement with the SPLM faction led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
“The meeting will focus on the selection of state governors. The people who would later be appointed by the President as governors because we have three states which we will have to fill,” the source said.
