The political situation has become tense this weekend in South Sudan, after President Salva Kiir sacked two ministers on Friday evening. A brutal decision, announced “ without consultation “, denounces the opposition led by Riek Machar, who has shared power with his rival since 2018, at the end of a fragile peace agreement.
Two presidential decrees were read Friday evening on the antenna of the South Sudanese public television, two controversial decisions. On the one hand, the Minister of Defense, the opponent Angelina Teny, is sacked, as well as the Minister of the Interior Mahmoud Solomon. On the other hand, the president has now entrusted the Ministry of Defense to his own party and, in exchange, the Ministry of the Interior to the opposition.
The president’s spokesman, interviewed by Reuters, said he could not communicate ” no reason to these decisions at this point. ” It’s a normal procedure in general he said, adding that no decision had yet been made on their replacements.
However, these dismissals constitute a violation of the so-called “revitalized” peace agreement of 2018, immediately denounced the party of opponent Riek Machar, of which Angelina Teny is also the wife. It is a gesture unilateral for the SPLM-IO, which immediately met its political bureau on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, President Salva Kiir and his opponent Riek Machar met to discuss the situation. Nothing has yet filtered on the outcome of this meeting.