South Sudan’s minority leader in the National Legislative Assembly Hon. Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec has criticized President Salva Kiir’s remarks on Sunday about possibilities for the transitional government, saying he should leave the decisions to the negotiators.
Onyoti, the deputy chairman of SPLM-DC, described the president as emboldened by recent meetings in Washington and therefore willing to draw more ‘red lines’ that would prevent a peace deal from being reached in certain forms.
The president upon his return to Juba from the United States on Sunday declared that he would not accept his rival Riek Machar in a potentially newly created position of prime minister. At the same time his legal advisor speaking to an Arabic newspaper in Juba reiterated certain ‘red lines’ on which he said there will be no compromise.
Speaking at his office on Monday, Onyoti said that the government, rebels and other political parties and stakeholders at the peace talks in Addis Ababa should be the ones to agree on whether there will be a prime minister or not: “It is not one man’s decision to say that I will not accept this.”
“At the present moment we are [seeking] for peace; if we are for peace then we cannot give a certain condition of accepting or not accepting,” he said.
“When the president came back from America he gained confidence of the American government that he is for peace. Suppose if people agreed in Addis Ababa tomorrow there is a need for prime minister – I think nobody [ought to] stand in the way of that.”
He also pointed out that the president’s opposition to the post of prime minister on constitutional grounds is inconsistent, since Kiir at the same time announced he would be willing to consider creating the position of second vice president, which likewise is not in the constitution.
Onyoti explained that the constitution can be amended to create such positions: “The constitution is of our own making; we can amend it at any time because if we have to amend it for the sake of peace nobody will be against it.”
“I think it is too much for the president to say ‘I am not for Riek Machar to become a prime minister or not for prime ministership.’ I think he might have left the decision to the people negotiating now in Addis,” Adigo said.
He pointed out that such declarations of ‘red lines’ make people think that Kiir is not serious about peace.
The opposition politician further urged the warring parties to stop speaking with hostility against one another and instead come together to realize peace. He also called on the international community to give put pressure on the two parties whether the government or rebels.
“My message is that the people of South Sudan want peace now — not tomorrow — because if people are committed to their people whom they are fighting for to be the leaders of those people, both parties should have political will so that we reach a compromise acceptable to all of us.”
Onyoti’s party, SPLM-DC, is headed by Lam Akol, who also serves as head of the (non-armed) Political Parties delegation at the peace talks in Addis Ababa.
Related coverage:
Kiir: I will not accept Machar as prime minister (10 Aug.)
President Kiir’s legal advisor redraws red line on interim government (11 Aug.)
Political parties reject President Kiir’s ‘red line’ (26 June)
Politics: Salva Kiir says not stepping down (20 June)