A top South Sudanese army general said Tuesday that the restructuring of positions within the SPLM party needs a general convention according to the party’s constitution.
General James Hoth Mai, the country’s former army chief who also heads the national dialogue’s security committee, told Radio Tamazuj that fragmented factions of the SPLM party can reunite in Juba based on the Arusha reunification agreement but the restructuring of leadership positions needs a general convention.
“If there is a convention, the chair, the deputy and the other positions can be chosen in the general convention,” he said.
However, the former army chief said decisions to appoint new officials the SPLM party depends on the ongoing SPLM Liberation Council meetings in Juba.
“If the leadership accepted to choose Taban Deng as the deputy chair of the SPLM party is fine, but if the party leadership said people should go according to the hierarchy is also fine,” he said.
The top general said the appointment of the new army chief Gabriel Jok Riak who hails from Upper Nile region was based on his seniority in the army.
He pointed out that the appointment may not affect the current defense minister, Kuol Manyang Juuk. “Kuol and Jok hail from the same area in Jonglei, but I don’t think there is a problem. When I was the SPLA chief of general staff, Gen. John Kong Nyuon was appointed as a minister of defense and both of us hail from Upper Nile region,” he explained.
Gen. Hoth Mai pointed out that Gen. Johnson Juma is now the second top army general after Gen. Jok had been appointed as the new army chief.
The SPLM Liberation Council meeting is ongoing in Juba to reunify all fragmented factions of the historical party.
But the group led by Riek Machar has boycotted the meeting, saying there should be a peace agreement first before the reunification process could take place.