Peter Lam Both, the SPLM Secretary General - Credit: Office of the FVP - March 29, 2022

The new SPLM Secretary-General has called on the members to guard the party against what he describes as “overzealous political elements to avoid the repeat of wrangles within the party.

Peter Lam Both made the remarks during his swearing-in ceremony at the SPLM Secretariat on Tuesday.

He was referring to the conflict events of 1983, 1991, and 2013 which according to him were caused by overzealous political elements within the party.

“I further want to over-emphasize the importance of the internal cohesion of our party. The biggest threat to SPLM in South Sudan is not a rival political party. It is disunity within the party,” Both said in a statement.

To avoid these scenarios, Both said the party members must choose leaders with care and manage contradictions with diligence and thoughtfulness.

Before stating this, he shed light on the achievements of the secretariat that include harmonizing the leadership and restructuring the party including staffing it and improving coordination between the parliamentary causes and the SPLM Secretariat.

According to the incumbent SPLM S.G., the party has now implemented the Arusha Agreement and called on the members to prioritize the upcoming elections and development.

These include mobilizing for the party, initiating primary elections this year ahead of the general elections, and conducting general orientation and mass mobilization to win voters.

On October 20, a meeting of the SPLM Political Bureau, chaired by President Salva Kiir passed the resolution to scrap the membership status of two opposition leaders.

The SPLM-IO said the decision to dismiss Dr. Riek Machar and Pagan Amun from SPLM and declare the re-unification of the party as complete, is unilateral and a violation of the 2015 Arusha agreement.

According to the interim SPLM Secretary-General, the party decided to restructure itself and fill in positions previously held by Dr. Machar and Amum because they formed their own parties.

But the main opposition group stated that the decision by the ruling party to expel Machar and Pagan is factional and unilateral.

SPLM-IO said the ruling SPLM party has no authority to dismiss former leaders of the SPLM when the reunification has not been done.

“After the 2013 violence, the SPLM had split into three groups, namely; SPLM-IG, SPLM-IO, and SPLM-FD- and lately, The real SPLM,” said Puok Both Baluang, Acting Press Secretary of the first vice president.

“We want to categorically state that none of these factions can claim to be the SPLM, as such, no faction can dismiss any member of the other factions from SPLM,” he added.

Machar’s office went on to state that the dismissal or replacement would have been possible if there was a convention for the SPLM, rather than a faction.

It added that the SPLM splinter groups had struck a re-unification deal in 2015 in Arusha, Tanzania, and was complimentary to the implementation of the peace agreement.

A political analyst also criticized the revocation of the SPLM membership of the duo, saying it was needless until the ruling party put its house in order.

Dr. James Okuk who is a senior research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Policy Studies stated that the dismissal of the former leaders, will not address the lack of reforms that sparked divisions among members.