SPLM-IO: Acting Chairman Suspends Officials Citing Party Constitution

South Sudans main opposition group, the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), is facing a deepening leadership crisis after its acting chairman suspended several senior party officials. Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, the SPLM-IO deputy chairman who has been serving as acting chairman since the detention of party leader Dr. Riek Machar, defended his decision to suspend senior officials as a disciplinary measure, saying it is in line with the partys constitution and internal rules. The suspension is administrative procedure. Administrative procedure is also disciplinary in nature, Oyet told Radio Tamazuj in an interview on Tuesday. Oyet on Monday suspended Interim Secretary-General Regina Joseph Kaba and seven other senior officials, accusing them of conduct aimed at undermining the partys constitutional principles and destabilising its leadership. Those suspended include Gabriel Gabriel Deng, chairperson of the National Committee for Peace and Reconciliation; Pai Mai Deng, chairperson of the National Committee for Information; Matata Frank Elikana, chairperson of the National Committee for Governance Affairs; and Paul Baba Ezbon, chairperson of the National Committee for Transport Systems. The others are Reath Muoch Tang, deputy chairperson of the National Committee for Foreign Affairs; Ambassador James Dyeem, the SPLM-IO representative to Kenya; and Ambassador Jordan Manpiny, the SPLM-IO representative to Ethiopia. Kaba rejected the move and issued a counter-order the same day suspending Oyet from his positions as deputy chairman and acting chairman. The competing orders have exposed a widening leadership rift within the SPLM-IO and raised questions over who has authority over the partys political and military structures. Oyet said the officials he suspended remain members of the SPLM-IO but would face investigations. They are suspended from their positions. They are not yet suspended from the membership of the party, he said. He accused some members of the partys Political Bureau, particularly those outside South Sudan, of attempting to interfere with the partys constitutional principles. What happened, we had a section of the members of Political Bureau, basically those who are outside Juba, outside South Sudan, who are trying to tamper with the constitutional principles of the party, including planning to destabilize the party. Thats why such suspension came out, Oyet said. He did not provide details of the alleged plans to destabilise the party. Oyet said any actions taken by the suspended officials would be considered as part of disciplinary proceedings. Anything they do from now onwards will be added into the files of their investigation, he said. He also sought to reassure SPLM-IO supporters, saying the dispute is part of normal internal administrative procedures. I know SPLM-IO is very big constituency in the Republic of South Sudan. Our support base is country-wide. Our membership and supporters are also country-wide. They should remain calm, he said. These are normal administrative processes that are going on within the party. It is meant to cleanse the party to ensure that nobody is above the law. Rival claims to authority Kabas counter-order presented a fundamentally different account of the dispute. In a statement issued on Monday, she said the SPLM-IO Political Bureau is the partys highest executive political organ and had reaffirmed the principle of collective leadership at a meeting on Aug. 27. The Political Bureau had directed Oyet to observe the partys constitution when exercising his authority as acting chairman, she said. Kaba accused Oyet of gross misconduct, refusing to work collectively with political and military leaders, defying Political Bureau orders and taking unilateral decisions that had caused deaths, division, and friction within the movement. Her statement ordered Oyet to immediately stop exercising or claiming authority on behalf of the SPLM-IO. It also directed the partys politi