South Sudan’s government said it wants the country’s minister of foreign affairs Deng Alor Kuol to resign for allegedly lobbying secretly for targeted Western sanctions against government officials.
Deng Alor is now representing the SPLM-FDs group in the incumbent government led by President Salva Kiir according to the 2015 peace deal.
SPLM-FDs is a faction made up of senior ruling party officials who were detained when the conflict began in December 2013.
In an interview with Al-Maugif Arabic newspaper, Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth claimed Minister Deng Alor has been stepping up his lobbying for sanctions against South Sudan.
“We want him to resign from his position, but he does not want to do so,” Michael Makuei said.
Makuei, who is also the government spokesman and close ally of President Kiir, pointed out that Deng Alor cannot be removed from his ministerial position because he was appointed according to the 2015 peace agreement.
However, Makuei revealed that the foreign minister has been stripped of some of his responsibilities after the government confirmed that he was not loyal to the government. “He [Deng] and John Luk are part of the opposition,” Makuei said.
Majak D'Agoot, a leading member of the former political detainees, told Radio Tamazuj Minister Deng Alor will return to Juba soon after participating in the second round of the peace talks in Addis Ababa.
“If we want to withdraw our members from the government; we can do it at any time. It is a not decision in the hands of Salva Kiir and Michael Makuei,” Majak said.
He pointed out that their group had decided to maintain their ministers in the government to give the revitalization process a chance. “If we want to withdraw our members, we can do it because we are one,” he said.
The former deputy defense minister claimed had it not because of their representatives in the incumbent government; the peace agreement that is being revitalized would have collapsed.