SPLM-IO wants Machar removed as First Vice President

JUBA – A new SPLM-IO faction that has sided against Dr. Riek Machar is calling for his removal from the position of First Vice President.

This comes after the faction led by former General Chief of Staff First Lieutenant General Simon Gatwech Dual announced Tuesday that they have dismissed Mr. Machar from the chairmanship of the SPLM-IO.

The group that has made Gatwech Interim Chairperson of the SPLM-IO claims that Mr. Machar has abandoned the party’s responsibilities.

“He [Machar] no longer represents the interest of the wider population in South Sudan – as he has become a part of the national government, compromising fundamental issues, hence his views are not helping the movement [SPLM/A-IO],” they said Tuesday.

Brigadier General William Gatjiath, a former SPLM-IO Spokesman fired by Machar and now representing the new group, said Gatwech has also been endorsed to assume the vice presidency position.

“The military command leadership has task 1st Lt. Gen. Simon Gatwech as the interim chairman and commander in chief of the movement -immediately he will be the First Vice President,” said Gatjiath.

The group blamed Machar for working for his personal interest at the expense of the party as evidence by the ministerial appointments.

“Even the way he selected the ministers and members of parliament did not reflect any reform agenda, but a personal ego to achieve his political goal to be reinstated to his former position as Vice President,” the statement alleged.

Gatjiath said the group will seek the inclusion of Gatwech in the new government and the ongoing peace process to implement the Chapter of Peace Agreement.

“The new chairman of the SPLM/A-IO will ask the peace partners, including the [President] if the peace agreement is alive, then we have to continue with it,” Gatjiath said.

“If there is no security arrangement, it means that there is no peace at all in the country,” the Spokesman asserted.

SPLM-IO senior members have repeatedly accused Mr. Machar of mismanaging the party and turning it into a family project.

Last month, Duer Dut Duer, another prominent member of the SPLM-IO unilaterally declared that he replaced Machar as the chairman of the party.

The announcement was ignored by other party’s bigwigs, including Gatwech, who said the decision by Duer was a personal one.

The announcement of Machar’s ouster by Gen. Gatwech who has full military backing will mark a major political showdown within the SPLM-IO.