The Federal Democratic Party (FDP) has expelled Changkuoth Bichiok, the former chairperson of the Finance Committee in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), from the party for violating the protocols.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, Wazir Michael, the party’s spokesperson, said the expulsion of Bichiok, the party’s secretary general, follows repeated severe violations of FDP protocols including insubordination and gross misconduct jeopardizing the party’s unity.
According to Michael, the expulsion also comes after a thorough review of his actions which he claims have consistently breached the FDP’s principles and failed the responsibilities entrusted to him.
In a letter issued yesterday, the party said the expulsion came into effect on 3 November.
“Changkuoth consistently disregarded directives from FDP Chairperson Gabriel Changson Chan and the National Leadership Council. Despite numerous warnings, he continued to undermine leadership decisions obstructing party cohesion and growth,” the letter reads in part. “He actively created discord among members fostering division that weakened the party’s solidarity. These actions threaten the FDP’s mission to work collaboratively for a stronger South Sudan.”
The spokesperson further revealed that Bichiok has lost all the party privileges including his position in the parliament.
“I think the expulsion will affect all the positions of Changkuoth and he will not be a member of parliament. The leadership of the party decided to remove him from the party, and also decided to remove him from the position of Secretary-General of the party” he said. “All privileges he has been enjoying all this time have been stripped off by the leadership.
However, Bichiok said his dismissal from the party was a violation of his rights as secretary general. He called the accusations against him mere allegations that should have been thoroughly investigated by a committee before any dismissal occurred.
“This is a violation of the party regulations because I am the secretary general of the party. I am not just a member of the party. He has no authority to just dismiss anybody from the party unless the party has become his property. And the issues that are cited, until you prove them right, are all allegations,” Bichiok said. “In our constitution and our rules, you need to form a committee to investigate first and see if these issues are true or not. And this one also needs the leadership to sit first. And then a committee has to be formed, investigation is done, then after that, the report is brought and then the decision can be taken in the sitting of the leadership council”
He however accused the party chairman of bringing his close relatives and giving them positions in the national parliament.
“The real issue is that we have committees in the parliament that have been reshuffled by the speaker,” he stated. “When they were reshuffled, other colleagues of mine took their offices, and Changson Chan asked me not to take my office, without knowing that he wanted to bring his relative to the office who is in the Council of States.”
Bichiok promised to respond by releasing a press statement.