The former Northern Bahr el Ghazal deputy governor Arkanjelo Athian has denied that he has lost his party position as the deputy chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the state, describing his removal in January as “unconstitutional and illegal.” 

Speaking for the first time to the press since he was arrested and released in January, Arkenjelo Athian Teng said he remains the official deputy chairperson of the SPLM-Juba in the state.

He said some people in the party have mistaken healthy debate aimed at promoting internal democracy for dissidence and indiscipline.

“I want to assure you that we are one and continue working towards achieving unity of the leadership so that we become much stronger and better organized than ever before,” he said.

Athian said he understood that not everyone in the SPLM could be satisfied with the changes.

“But we just have to be patient. We will still be in power for a long time and there will be other opportunities. All of us are patient enough. I am personally not in government. I am not complaining and I am not in a hurry to get into government. Of course, a few will be frustrated; that is normal but we have not abandoned them,” he said.

“We are not even worried about who will swallow who; only selfish people think in the line of who should swallow the other. As far as we are concerned, we are equal members in the party, whether small or big. There is no swallowing of the other; we are combining as one family,” he said.

He downplayed reports that Paul Malong Awan, who remains the head of the party branch office in the state after his appointment as chief of general staff of the SPLA-Juba, had threatened to dismiss him from the party and throw him out if he continues to agitate.

“I do not take hearsay and gossips. I take official statements and documented correspondences. As far as I know, there are no official communications. So I cannot work on what I hear. SPLM is an institution with guiding rules and regulations,” Athian explained    

Athian’s claim to the position of deputy chairman represents a challenge to Jel Mangok, whom the state party chairman General Paul Malong has recognized as deputy chairman.