Puok Both Baluang is the Acting Press Secretary in the Office of the First Vice President and SPLM-IO leader Dr. Riek Machar.
Radio Tamazuj interviewed him to speak about plans for elections in December 2024. Puok also responded to a Tuesday statement by Information Minister and Government Spokesman Michael Makuei in which he said Dr. Machar is not under confinement in Juba and is free to travel.
Below are edited excerpts:
Q: Mr. Puok, Information Minister Michael Makuei has refuted the reports that First Vice President Riek Machar is confined in Juba. What is the status of Dr. Riek Machar?
A: Well, the communique of the IGAD Head of States and Governments held in December 2020 was very clear. The IGAD communique confirms that Dr. Riek Machar is free and can travel without restrictions. This was after the peace talks and the signing of the revitalized peace agreement.
Q: But Dr. Machar has never left Juba since he returned to implement the peace agreement with President Salva Kiir. What justifies this?
A: Yes. In the last few months, there was a plan for a conference in Wau to find a solution to a disagreement over the relocation of the Wau county headquarters from Wau town to Baggari and Dr. Riek Machar was invited by the governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal State to travel to Wau and attend the meeting. Also, the governor extended the same invitation to the president to attend the same conference because it was a very important conference. As you know, there is still tension over the relocation of the county headquarters from Wau to Baggari.
So, when the state governor met the president to extend him the invitation, the president declined and said he would not be able to attend the conference and the president informed the governor that Dr. Riek Machar also cannot attend the conference in Wau because there are directives from IGAD that Machar is still under confinement.
The president did not tell us exactly whether there was another letter written by IGAD on the matter or it was just communicated verbally to him by IGAD. Since Minister Makuei, as a government spokesperson and a senior member of the SPLM party, said Dr. Machar is free, we believe that he is representing the ruling SPLM Party led by President Salva Kiir.
Q: But Minister Makuei confirmed that Dr. Machar is free to travel. Are you refuting his statement?
A: We welcome the statement made by Information Minister Makuei and for correcting what the president communicated recently to the governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Sarah Cleto. If Minister Makuei says Dr. Machar is free, we welcome it, and we think that it is a good move and this will consolidate peace and build trust between the two principals who are now implementing the revitalized peace agreement.
Q: Was there another invitation for a visit internally to Machar that was blocked by the government?
A: Well, Dr. Machar is not interested in paying visits to the states and counties right now due to the security reports we have been receiving. We think that the security arrangements should be implemented fully before Dr Machar can travel to the states and counties. During the opening of SPLM-IO offices in the states, we received reports of attacks and harassment against our members by security agents who are loyal to the SPLM Party. So for us not to risk the security of our members and the crowd of citizens who will be welcoming him, Dr. Machar decided not to visit those places to reduce the risks. So Dr. Machar is waiting for the security arrangements to be completed so that he can visit many areas within the country.
Q: Since Minister Makuei has confirmed that Dr. Machar is free, will the SPLM-IO now allow him to visit some states?
A: On the issue of visits to the states, hopefully, there will be some visits by the SPLM-IO leadership and we are working on registering our membership and opening our offices. We are planning to reach payams and counties, and hopefully, there will be civic and political space in the country. As the SPLM-IO, we are pushing for civic and political space in the country.
Q: What about trips outside South Sudan? We have never seen Dr. Machar travelling abroad to represent the government as the first vice president.
A: We have been receiving invitations for Dr. Machar to travel abroad and the most recent invitation was from Egypt. Dr. Machar was invited to travel and attend a conference there and after last year’s Governors’ Forum, there was another invitation extended to Dr. Machar by one of the West African countries to attend a meeting. But those invitations were not given the go-ahead, and the president’s office went silent. There was no response from the president because if a vice president or a minister is travelling, he or she first gets approval from the president.
Q: Now, is there a trip abroad by Machar awaiting approval by Kiir?
A: Yes. There is an invitation extended to Machar to travel abroad and we are still waiting for the office of the president to respond. We do not know if Dr. Machar will be allowed to travel. This will show if the SPLM and President Kiir have the political will to work with Machar as a peace partner or not.
Q: Apart from the invitations extended to Machar as SPLM-IO leader. What about official trips abroad? We have never seen Machar representing his boss in meetings abroad. What is the reason?
A: It is true that Dr. Machar has never been assigned to represent the president in meetings abroad, and I think there are many reasons for that. Sometimes we get surprised that some junior officials, in terms of protocol, are assigned to represent the president in summits and very important meetings abroad. As you know, Dr. Machar is the second person in the country in the hierarchy of the transitional government, and he is in charge of the governance cluster. We just saw it in the media recently when the president delegated his advisor, Benjamin Bol Mel, to represent him in a meeting in Addis Ababa and there were many meetings where the president delegated the minister of presidential affairs Dr. Barnaba Marial. Sometimes, the other vice presidents are delegated by the president to represent him abroad. We think that those plans to bypass the first vice president show that the president lacks the political will to build trust with Dr. Machar. He does not see Dr. Machar as a very important party to the peace process. So we can say that the SPLM Party knows the reasons why they are doing that.
Q: What is your plan for elections as the SPLM-IO? Are you prepared now to participate in general elections?
A: Well, when we talk about elections, there are prerequisites for free and fair elections to take place. We need the security arrangements to be implemented and when we say security arrangements, it does not mean only the graduation of the unified forces. There should be civic and political space as well as freedoms. Also, the system of governance has not yet been addressed besides the independent institutions. How can you hold elections without a permanent constitution? The constitution-making process has not yet started. A constitutional conference should be held so that we discuss the system of governance we want before elections, and there is a need for a population census that will inform the drawing of geographical constituencies.
Q: Don’t you think that the remaining 16 months are enough to implement the pending tasks of the peace agreement?
A: For the parties to work on a permanent constitution, they need 24 months, according to the experts and the extension of the transitional period was done based on the recommendation of the experts. Also, if there were political will, we would have implemented the issue of security arrangements, including the deployment of the unified forces. The other challenge is the lack of political space besides the repatriation of the refugees. We believe that the remaining period is not enough to implement the pending tasks that will qualify us to hold free and fair elections. Thank you.