South Sudan president strips deputy of some powers
By Hereward Holland
JUBA | Tue Apr 16, 2013 9:51am EDT
(Reuters) - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has withdrawn some powers
from his vice president, officials said on Tuesday, clipping the wings of a
likely challenger for the ruling party leadership.
Kiir, who has led the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) since 2005,
also halted a national reconciliation initiative that had been launched by
Riak Machar and which had been viewed as an attempt to raise his political
profile.
The two men were on opposing sides of a split within the SPLM during much of
the 1983-2005 civil war that ended after the two factions reunited.
No major rival parties operate in the country that was formed in 2011 when
the south split from Sudan in the north, so the battle for leadership of the
SPLM is effectively the race to be president. A national election is due in
2015.
A Western diplomat said Machar had indicated he wanted to compete for
leadership of the party, and said this had prompted Kiir to act.
A presidential decree issued on Monday withdrew all powers assigned to
Machar that were granted at the discretion of Kiir. Those are aside from
functions specifically outlined by the constitution. The decree did not
state what powers were removed.
"The vice president of the republic shall be restricted to exercise and
discharge only his powers," Kiir's office said in an emailed statement.
James Gatdet Dak, the vice president's press secretary, said they were
seeking clarification on the powers withdrawn. "We don't know which powers
yet, they've not specified," Dak told Reuters.
Since landlocked South Sudan gained independence, it has been struggling to
assert control over the nation and provide security and basic services to an
estimated 11.4 million people.
The country ranks among the least developed countries in the U.N. human
development index.
The Western diplomat said the president's decree may have temporarily
flattened the aspirations of the vice president.
Aly Verjee, a senior researcher for Nairobi-based think tank the Rift Valley
Institute, said Machar had been jockeying for the top job in the party since
his an abortive attempt in 2008.
"I don't think Kiir and Machar have ever seen completely eye-to-eye," Verjee
said, commenting via email.
"As the memory of independence recedes into the distance, the unity of the
SPLM will weaken, and as with other liberation movements, further fracturing
of the party is almost certain in the years ahead," he added.
(Editing by Edmund Blair and Alison Williams)
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Received on Tue Apr 16 2013 - 13:09:57 EDT
