South Sudan’s ruling party (SPLM) will hold its National Liberation Council and Political Bureau meetings to approve the reunification of the fragmented historical party next month, an official said on Friday.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, the party’s spokesman, Peter Lam Both said the decision by the party to meet within 30 days resulted from a recent meeting President Salva Kiir held with party factions of former detainees and that of Taban Deng Gai.
He said it was agreed at the meeting that SPLM leaders from the different factions will return to the posts they once held in the Political Bureau and the Liberation Council.
“A committee was also formed to study new names to be appointed to the Liberation Council and the Political Bureau,” he said.
He further said all SPLM cadres were encouraged to return to the ruling party.
"The party is calling on its cadres to return, but those who want to establish a political party are welcome to do so,” he said.
In February, three SPLM factions announced the formal reunification of their ranks, with the leadership giving missing members a 30-day ultimatum to return to Juba for reunification of the historical party.
However, the faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In-Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by former First Vice President, Riek Machar was not part of the reunification process announced in February.
The SPLM fractured into different groups after the civil war erupted in December 2013.