July 4th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s main armed opposition movement, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) on Wednesday condemned the proposed extension of President Kiir’s term in office and that of the national parliament.
South Sudan’s Justice Minister on Tuesday announced that MPs in the embattled South Sudan’s parliament were discussing a bill proposed to extend the term of the President, his two deputies and that of the parliament.
“The leadership of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) has learned with deep regret, the government of South Sudan’s intention to extend the president’s term as reported by the Dawn Newspaper in Juba, by Reuters and other media organizations on 03/07/2018,” the statement signed by the SPLM-IO Chairman of National Committee for Information and Public Relations Mabior Garang de’Mabior read in part.
The statement said the term extension would legally be done under the current peace agreement and that the proposed actions highlight what it called anti-peace and hard-liner stand of the government towards he peaceful resolution of the current conflict.
“The current agreement being revived under the auspices of IGAD, would renew the mandate of the regime legitimately, therefore, these latest machinations are a clear indication of the regime’s hard-line, anti-peace stand,” the statement further said.
The statement further denied any violations by the SPLM-IO reiterating the government’s responsibility towards the violation of the agreement further accusing the army mouthpiece Brig. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang of spreading lies that derail the peace process.
“The SPLM/SPLA (IO) has been observing the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoH) and has only been engaging the regimes forces in self-defence. The lies emanating from the regime’s army spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, are only intended to derail the peace process and can easily be dismissed by the Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanisms (CTSAMM), which is the lawful body to determine the violators of the ceasefire,” the statement said.
The statement added that the SPLM-IO “is confident in the peace process and is confident that the CTSAMM shall soon disprove this negative propaganda from the hardliners in the regime who want to derail the peace process and we call on CTSAMM to investigate these allegations.”
The movement further reiterated its commitment to the IGAD-led peace process and its continuation under this mechanism it search for peaceful settlement to the conflict in the country pointing out that the SPLM-IO reserve the right to defense itself against government attacks.
“The SPLM/SPLA (IO) is fully committed to the IGAD peace process and we shall continue negotiating in good faith to achieve a just and honorable peace for our people, through a negotiated settlement. However, in light of the regime’s malicious propaganda, intransigence throughout the peace process, their constant violations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreements (CoH) and constant aggressive posturing the SPLM/SPLA (IO) reserves our natural right of self-defense” The statement concludes.
