The SPLM Party is unhappy with the upper house of parliament’s vote of no confidence against Unity State Governor Joseph Nguen Monytuil.
On Monday, the Council of States summoned Governor Monytuil to answer questions on insecurity incidents in the state and the summary execution of rebel officers in Mayom County earlier this month.
The legislators then passed a vote of no confidence against the governor, who is a member of the SPLM Party, and asked him to tender his resignation or be fired through a presidential decree for allegedly failing to control insecurity in the state.
The Council of States, reconstituted under the 2018 peace agreement, consists of parties who signed the agreement, including the SPLM Party led by President Salva Kiir.
The Transitional Constitution mandates the Council of States to request statements from governors and national ministers concerned regarding the effective implementation of the decentralized system and devolution of powers and any other issues related to the states.
Speaking at a press conference in Juba on Wednesday, Kuol Atem, the SPLM secretary for political affairs, said:” The way it was done by the Council of States, it was not the way because the SPLM members would have withdrawn from the motion raised so that they come to consult the party first.”
“We have neither rejected it nor accepted it because it should have been done through the party. The SPLM members should have come back to the party first to seek consultation, which is how it should have been done. This government is a government of political parties,” he added.
Atem made the remarks after a meeting between the SPLM secretariat with the first deputy speaker, SPLM chief whip, and members of the SPLM caucus.
Separately, the Council of States on Wednesday said it had submitted its resolution on the passing of a vote of no confidence against Governor Monytuil to President Salva Kiir.
At a press conference, Josephine Nakuru, the chairperson of the parliamentary committee for information and members’ affairs, said: “The resolution has been forwarded to the president for his consumption or decision based on the recommendations that were given.”
“On Monday, we had the deliberations as the Council of States, and two reports were presented, one by Riaw Gatlier Gai, who is the representative of Unity State in the Council of States and another report concerning the execution of the officers that took place, and the killing of the commissioner in Mayom County was presented by the chairperson of the security committee, Honorable Faustino Atem Gualdit. That was basically what we did on Monday, and we are still working on them,” Josephine said.
In April, insecurity caused by inter-communal violence in Leer County claimed about 40 lives and caused massive destruction. The insecurity situation there promoted President Salva Kiir to form an investigation committee.
On 9 August, Unity state officials confirmed the extrajudicial killings of three rebel commanders accused of killing a county commissioner and 11 others.
In July, forces loyal to the rebel group South Sudan People’s Movement/Army (SSPM/A) attacked and killed Mayom county commissioner James Chuol Gatluak, the brother to President Kiir’s national security advisor Tut Gatluak.