General Salva Kiir Mayardit yesterday spoke angrily about the opposition’s call for him to step down, referring to his political rivals as “dogs” and suggesting he was unwilling to concede high-level positions to them as part of a power-sharing agreement.
Speaking on Monday to members of the SPLM National Liberation Council still loyal to him, Kiir slammed media coverage of the SPLM-IO demand for him to step down. Though the demand is not new, it was reiterated by SPM-IO shortly after the rebel movement signed the Arusha framework deal.
Kiir said the online media outlet that carried the report “is effectively fighting to undermine this peace agreement [the Arusha deal].”
“Two days ago, when Riek Machar came to Nairobi and he held a rally in the Safari Park Hotel and in Safari Park Hotel he demanded that I should step aside to allow peace in the country,” he said, going on to criticize media for repeating this statement. “Now if suppose I step down today and Riek Machar comes to take over the government, will you people seated before me here, will you clap for him your hands for him and allow him to take over?” he said.
In further remarks on the occasion, which was billed as an “Extra-Ordinary National Liberation Council meeting,” Kiir referred to his political opponents as beaten dogs.
He said the history of SPLM is “full of defections like a dog lives with you at home and when you beat him he will run away but still will come back and lay down near you because he has nowhere to go and live.”
“It is actually what our people are being doing in SPLM,” Kiir said.
Kiir also responded to the accusation by political rivals that he has blocked reforms. He said this was hypocritical given that Pagan Amum and the rest have been decision-makers in the government previously and yet have done nothing.
The president also lashed out at them for calling themselves ‘SPLM’ though they have left the party: “SPLM will never be destroyed, and I am saying this because they are refusing to give themselves a different name, they say that they are SPLM… if it is SPLM, what about us, what do we called ourselves?”
He also spoke about his rivals’ desire for political power and positions. “These people are insisting for provocation because by provocation they must go back to their positions prior to the conflict. But is it true that you commit a crime, kill people, destroy the property of the people so that you’re given a bigger position?”
“It has become a fashion in South Sudan if you want a position you rebel and then you will be given a position. I don’t think that I can continue doing this thing again, I did it with the former Anya Anya Two when the [Juba] agreement was signed,” he said.
Nonetheless, Kiir called on the ‘National Liberation Council’ meeting to endorse the framework reunification agreement signed last week in Arusha.
File photo