South Sudan has attempted to clarify the powers president Salva Kiir has removed from his vice president, Riek Machar, following the shock announcement on state-owned South Sudan Television (SSTV) on Monday.
The speaker of South Sudan’s National Legislative Assembly, James Wani Igga, said on Tuesday that the president “did not touch” the constitutional powers assigned to the vice president and did not dismiss him.
The head of state had only withdrawn powers he had previously delegated to his deputy to help perform other important tasks he could not attend, the senior SPLM official said.
“I read the read decree and looked at the transitional constitution and found that the president did not touch any constitutional powers assigned to the vice president.
He [Kiir] had only withdrawn powers he had in the past delegated to his deputy.
So let our people understand that the vice president is a still a vice president with all his constitutional powers”, Igga told reporters.
James Kok Ruea, a former minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management, currently a member of parliament noted, “There is confusion. People were confused when they heard it.
Some people called yesterday to ask whether I have heard [about the] removal of the vice president.
These were literate people. They are educated. They reads and write but because they were misinformed they thought all powers of the vice president were removed”.
South Sudan Minister of information, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, at press conference explained, “Riek Machar is still a vice president with all constitutional powers.
Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit is still a president with all his constitutional powers. They are all in office. What the president had done is that he had withdrawn powers he had previously delegated to the vice president.
It is like you asking me to do some work for you when you are preoccupied. This is exactly what happened and it should be understood in this context”.
He denied that there were any political differences between the president and his deputy .
ST
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