The speaker of South Sudan’s Warrap State Legislative Assembly, Kuec Deng Mayar, said on Monday that an interim leader of a breakaway faction of the SPLM-IO party ordered his arrest after he refused to endorse him.
Mayar, who resigned as the SPLM-IO’s state chairperson over the weekend, told Radio Tamazuj that Stephen Par Kuol, the faction’s interim leader, instructed security forces through the state governor to detain him earlier this month. He was later released.
Par Kuol, the national minister of peacebuilding, was declared interim chairman by a faction of the SPLM-IO after First Vice President and SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar was placed under house arrest in March.
President Salva Kiir accused Machar of orchestrating attacks by the Nuer White Army militia on government forces in Nasir.
Mayar said Par Kuol had demanded his endorsement to solidify his leadership claim. “I told him I needed to consult my members, but they rejected it. That’s why he ordered the governor to arrest me,” Mayar said.
Mayar also announced the closure of SPLM-IO offices in Warrap, accusing the party of abandoning its principles. “The party has lost its direction. It’s now about power struggles and tribalism,” he said, alleging that Par Kuol’s faction favored Nuer interests.
Elizabeth Achuei Yol, a senior SPLM-IO official loyal to Machar, dismissed Mayar’s claims, calling the office closures a “personal decision” unsupported by the party. She said most members in Warrap remained loyal to Machar.
The SPLM-IO faction under Par Kuol could not immediately be reached for comment.
Lual Malueth, a political analyst and lecturer at the University of Juba, described the Warrap group’s move as “political hibernation” rather than a definitive break, suggesting they might realign if Machar is freed.