A faction of South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) on Saturday elected Josephine Joseph Lagu as its new chairperson.
The umbrella, which is made up of six opposition factions, also elected Mr. Hussein Abdel-Bagi Ayii as deputy chairperson in today’s vote in the capital Juba.
The coalition said in a statement that opposition politician Lam Akol Ajawin was elected as the coalition’s secretary general. It added that Mr Khalid Butrous will be in charge of finance.
The group further said former Western Equatoria governor, Joseph Bangasi Bakasoro was chosen to be in charge of external relations. General Bapiny Monytuil was also voted in as the coalition’s security coordinator.
Khalid Butrous, a member of the coalition and head of the National Salvation Front, told Radio Tamazuj that the election was conducted in a transparent manner in the presence of international observers.
He pointed out that the election was conducted successfully, although some opposition parties including the Federal Democratic Party (FDP) led by Gabriel Changson and the South Sudan United Movement (SSUM) led by Denay Chagor boycotted the vote.
“The two parties boycotted the vote. But we cannot say that the alliance is now divided into two because we are the majority,” he said.
Khalid, however, called upon the two opposition parties to return to the coalition.” Appropriate measures will be taken if they don’t return to the alliance,” he stressed.
The coalition, which is part of the revitalised peace deal, was hit by leadership wrangles since November 2018.
In September 2018, South Sudan President Salva Kiir, opposition leader Riek Machar and SSOA leaders signed the peace deal. Kiir and Machar held talks in Juba early this week to resolve pending issues holding up the formation of a transitional government proposed for November.