South Sudan’s prominent opposition leader Riek Machar shouldn’t practice politics when he returns to the country, a spokesman of the government allied to President Salva Kiir said on Friday.
Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting in Juba, Michael Makuei Lueth, Information Minister, said his government doesn’t object to Machar’s return to South Sudan if he wants to stop inciting violence.
The government spokesman further said Riek Machar should stay away from practicing politics until time comes for elections, saying the opposition leader should come back as a normal citizen of South Sudan.
In April, President Kiir formed a new coalition government with Machar as his deputy as part of a peace deal signed in August 2015.
But fighting broke out in July between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those supporting Machar, his long-time rival, who had been serving as first vice president but who left Juba after the fighting. He has since been replaced as first vice president.
The United Nations said recently that it helped deposed South Sudanese opposition leader Riek Machar move safely within the Democratic Republic of Congo.
File photo: Riek Machar