South Sudan's Presidential Press Secretary Ateny Wek Ateny has announced that President Salva Kiir is seeking to name a new cabinet with or without members of the SPLM/A-In Opposition on Friday.

On 11 February, Kiir announced the appointment of former rebel leader Riek Machar as First Vice President on the state-owned SSTV, a move anticipated by the peace accord signed last August. 

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday, Ateny said President Kiir will also form a transitional cabinet that will include members of the SPLM-FD faction and other political parties only. This comes after the SPLM-IO so far declined to provide a list of nominees to Kiir to fill the ten cabinet posts that are given to them by the peace agreement.

Ateny explained that the deadline given to Machar to report himself to Juba will end on Thursday evening. He added that 16 ministers from Kiir’s faction will be appointed, besides two ministers from the SPLM-FD and two others from the other political parties.

Ateny confirmed that the armed opposition faction SPLM-IO are not expected to be part of the cabinet appointments announced Friday, pointing out that they are unlikely to submit names of their transitional ministers on Thursday.

For his part, Ramadan Hassan Baku, the deputy head of the SPLM-IO advance team in Juba, criticized the move by Kiir to form the transitional government on Friday.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, Hassan said: "Up to now there is not even anybody from the bodyguards of the First Vice President in Juba, not even the Republican Guard, so how can a cabinet be formed without others?"

Machar told the BBC last week that he would return after the partial demilitarization of Juba and the arrival of his bodyguards to the city.

Ramadan described the move by the government to exclude them from the new government as "illogical". The senior SPLM-IO member pointed out that Riek Machar would not return to Juba until his bodyguards have arrived ahead of him.

The main factions last January divvied up the ministries, leaving the defense ministry, justice, information and national security in the hands of Kiir’s faction, among others, while several key ministries were handed over to the armed opposition and the SPLM-FD, including interior, petroleum and foreign affairs.