South Sudan President Salva Kiir’s legal advisor ruled out any discussion with the rebels touching on the possibility of the president stepping down.
In an interview with El Maugif newspaper in Juba Monday, Deng said vacating the presidency and dissolving the National Legislative Assembly are red lines not to be crossed.
The armed opposition SPLM-IO has called on Kiir to step down, saying the president is illegitimate and accusing him of massacring ethnic Nuer in Juba.
“Such a demand cannot be met in any agreement in this world,” Telar said.
Telar’s statement shows the government has not changed its position since June, when President Kiir gave a strongly worded speech declaring that he would not accept an interim government without him or the current national assembly.
Telar said when the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the Sudanese government in 2005, President Bashir did not step down and Sudan’s parliament was not dissolved.
He said that instead the Sudan government of national unity increased parliamentary seats and made security arrangements to carry out the terms of the accord.
Telar expressed pessimism about reaching a peace deal soon in South Sudan and accused SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar of fighting for his own political aspirations.
“I think peace is difficult to be achieved especially at this time because Riek Machar’s ambition for the presidency is increasing,” he said.
Telar also blamed former SPLM secretary-general Pagan Amum for involvement in the ongoing conflict.
He said that Pagan Amum’s group of ten former detainees–who Kiir’s government accused of launching a coup but later dropped the charges–will not return to Juba because they were directly responsible for the crisis in South Sudan.
“To be frank, this group was the one ignited the ongoing war because it incited Machar to do so. I would like to reiterate no tribe can resist this government,” Telar warned.
“I know very well that they are now looking the way that will secure them ascent to power again, but they fear from the people not the government,” he said.
Related: Who’s who of the SPLM-Juba faction: Telar Deng.
Photo: Presidential advisor for legal affairs Telar Ring Deng
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