August 16th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) has withdrawn from the third committee which is tasked to discuss the power sharing at the South Sudan Presidency after a government diplomat threatened Machar with return to South Africa if he do not concede powers he claim in the South Sudan Presidency.
On Wednesday, South Sudan Ambassador to Khartoum who is also a member of the committee three threatened that Machar will be arrested again and will be taken back to South Africa in case he do not want to concede his powers previously set forth in the ARCSS.
In a protest letter seen by the Nyamilepedia and addressed to the IGAD special envoy Dr. Ismail Wais, the SPLM said they protest the yesterday’s remarks by the South Sudanese ambassador to Sudan which it referred to as ‘threatening’.
“We the SPLM-IO delegation to the committee number (3) on power sharing at the presidency do hereby submit this letter to your excellency to protest against today’s threatening statement by Mayen Dut of South Sudan to Sudan that the Chairman of the SPLM-IO, Dr. Riek Machar Teny will be taken back to South Africa and negotiate with us in that country if he does not concede the powers he is still claiming under article (3,1,3,3,1,3,3,8,3.3,10),” partly read the letter.
The letter further said what it called intimidation utterance violates the spirit of what the parties have so far achieved in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in regards to the ongoing progress being made by the South Sudanese parties.
“Your excellency, this intimidation utterance violates the spirit of what we have so far achieved here in Khartoum. With the apparent failure of the mediation to rebuke ambassador Dut to withdraw his undiplomatic statement, we have been made to conclude that such pronouncement by senior diplomatic representative accredited to this country is based on informed position of the government to get its way though intimidating the SPLM/IO in these talks,” further said the protest letter dated August 15th 2018.
The SPLM-IO letter which was signed by the group’s Chairman of National Committee for External Relations Stephen Par Kuol said they have decided to withdraw until they received a letter that withdraw the diplomat’s controversial remarks.
“This is not conducive spirit to continue negotiating with the government delegation without drawing that statement. Hence, we have decided to withdraw from that committee to discuss the issues under discussion until we received a formal statement to withdraw that statement,” it said.
