South Sudan’s Vice President Riek Machar has rebuffed a move to kick him out of the ruling party, a sign of renewed political tensions that could put pressure on the country’s rocky peace process.
The world’s youngest nation has plunged from crisis to crisis since it declared independence from Sudan in July 2011, and is being held together by a fragile unity government between historic enemies President Salva Kiir and Machar.
To highlight ongoing tensions between the two men, a meeting chaired by Kiir last week ousted Machar from the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
But Machar on Monday opposed the decision to strip both him and SPLM General Secretary Pagan Amum of party membership and leadership roles.
“No faction can dismiss a member of the other factions from the SPLM,” Machar’s wing of the party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), said in a statement.
Kiir and Machar were on the same side in the quest for independence from Khartoum, but ethnic and political rivalries drove them apart.
The SPLM was formed as the political wing of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), which led the struggle for South Sudan’s independence.
But after the civil war broke out in December 2013, it splintered into different factions.
Tensions between Kiir and Machar have often escalated to deadly violence, despite numerous pledges to silence their guns.
In April, they agreed to create a unified force command, one of several deadlocked issues delaying implementation of the 2018 pact to end the country’s five-year conflict.
Former rebels from the rival camps were integrated into the country’s army in August, ending years of deadlock between the two men and renewed hope for lasting peace.
The ceremony came weeks after the country’s leaders – who had been appointed to lead an interim government – announced they would remain in power for two years beyond an agreed deadline, sparking international concern.
The transition period was supposed to end with elections in December this year, but the government has so far failed to deliver on the core provisions of the 2018 agreement, including a draft constitution.
Despite having vast oil reserves, South Sudan is one of the poorest nations in the world and has spent almost half of its life as a nation at war.
Almost 400,000 people died in the civil war before Kiir and Machar signed a peace accord in 2018 and formed a unity government.
Since then, the country has been fighting floods, hunger, violence and political bickering as the promises of the peace agreement have not been kept.
The United Nations has repeatedly criticized South Sudan’s leadership for their role in inciting violence, suppressing political liberties and looting public coffers.
