Several members of the SPLM party led by President Salva Kiir have been harassed and detained by the SPLM-IO in Panyijiar County of Unity State, an SPLM official said.
Panyijiar is controlled by the opposition SPLM-IO led by First Vice President Riek Machar.
SPLM secretary in Unity State Samaan Doctor Chuoryier told Radio Tamazuj that 34 SPLM members, including the party interim chairperson in Panyijiar, were arrested on 20 October without a clear reason. He, however, said most of the detained SPLM officials were released later.
He accused the SPLM-IO-appointed commissioner of Panyijiar of ordering the arrest of the SPLM members in the area. “Our members were arrested by the commissioner of Panyijiar County without much concern,” he said.
“On 13 October, the commissioner of Panyijiar started with the confiscation of SPLM T-shirts on the arrival of our members in Panyijiar County,” Samaan added.
Speaking from Juba on Wednesday, the SPLM interim chairperson in Panyijiar, Peter Gatkoi Biliew, said he was forced to leave Panyijiar by the county commissioner.
“On 23 October, they deported me to Juba, I am now in Juba, and I will not return to Panyijiar because the commissioner is not for peace. The commissioner is not giving other parties a space to do their activities in the county,” Gatkoi said.
“The number of our members under detention in unknown locations is five. The rest have been released. Mathiang Degay, the Secretary General of SPLM in Panyijar County, Mading Manychuol Gatluok, the chairman of SPLM Youth League in Panyijiar and three others are still in detention,” he added.
For his part, the SPLM-IO Secretary General in Unity state, William Gai Riak, refuted the claims that SPLM members were arrested in Panyijiar County.
“We didn’t arrest anyone in Panyijiar County. Those are just allegations. I spoke with the commissioner of Panyijiar County, and he said nobody was arrested. It’s a lie from SPLM in Panyijiar,” he said.
Gai said the county commissioner was only advising the SPLM members to avoid giving party T-shirts to schoolchildren.
On 4 August 2022, parties to the 2018 peace agreement signed on to a further two-year extension of the transitional government, postponing elections until late 2024. As of now, the shape of the electoral system remains undefined. Additionally, elections require a conducive environment for political parties, civil society groups and the media.
The SPLM-IO has also been complaining about harassment and detention of its members by the SPLM.
In August, the United Kingdom, the United States, Norway and the EU called on the government to expand political and civic space to ensure that the voices of the South Sudanese people, including those who hold opposing views, are consistently heard throughout the implementation of the peace agreement.