Politics

Days after power sharing agreement, South Sudan president integrates rival’s officers into unified army

Published

1 year ago

April 13, 2022

A few days after signing an agreement to create a unified armed forces command, the President of South Sudan, Salva Kir, has announced the integration of officers loyal to the opposition into the unified army.

The move by Kir is a key provision of the 2018 peace deal with the hope that it will ease the country’s recovery from years of war which has dogged the nation since independence in 2011.

The recent civil war which is in its fifth year, has seen the country struggle to draw a line between forces loyal to President Kiir and his main rival and former rebel leader, Vice President Riek Machar, a war that has left nearly 400,000 people dead.

Since the 2018 agreement, frequent eruption of violence have continued to raise fears of a return to full-blown conflict, as the two sides remained adamant and uncompromising over major issues, including the unification of their forces.

But in a rare show of willingness to compromise, the duo sealed a power sharing deal on April 3, agreeing to a 60-40 distribution in favour of Kiir’s side of leadership posts in the army, police and national security forces.

Kir’s announcement late on Tuesday, realed out a series of presidential decrees to replace senior officials in the military, police and security services, with members of Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition, (SPLM-IO).

The decrees, according to the President, came into force on April 12, and under the terms of the agreement, the graduation of the unified forces should be completed within two months.

“The SPLA-IO welcomes the decision. It is really long-awaited. We just hope that this will pave a way forward to the completion of the unification process,” Machar’s military spokesman, Lam Paul Gabriel, said after the President’s announcement.

Related Topics:Agreement civil war Featured South Sudan

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Politics

Opposition party wins majority seats in Guinea Bissau’s parliament

Published

14 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

After a thirteen months break in Guinea-Bissau’s parliament, the opposition coalition has won majority seats after the legislative elections held on Sunday.

Over 20 political parties and coalitions, including the former ruling PAIGC party and its rival MADEM G15, presented candidates for various constituencies across the country.

According to official results, the PAI Terra Ranka coalition, led by the former ruling PAIGC party, won 54 of 102 seats in Sunday’s poll, while the ruling Madem G15, won 28 seats.

The development alters the planned constitutional reforms of President Embalo which would have allowed him to consolidate power by ridding the country of its semi-presidential system.

Under the current political system, the majority party or coalition appoints the government but the president has the authority to dismiss it in certain circumstances, a situation that has led to political gridlock and infighting in the past.

The political stability of the country has been consistently threatened by military incursions with successful and failed coup attempts. The latest was in February 2022 when gunmen stormed a government compound where President Embalo was holding a cabinet meeting, in an attempt to stage a coup.

Politics

Algeria, Sierra Leone get non-permanent seat at UN Security Council

Published

3 days ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Algeria and Sierra Leone, have been elected as non-permanent members of the the United Nations’ Security Council for 2024-2025.

The two countries are part of the ten countries elected for two years in the Council outside the five power bloc countries— the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

The countries replace Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates and will join Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland who were elected last year.

For Sierra Leone, it’s a return to the council after 53 years. Its Foreign Minister, David Francis said it was “a great day for this small, progressive and confident country…which has successfully transitioned from war to peace.”

Guyana and South Korea were also elected unchallenged while Slovenia handily beat Belarus for the only contested seat.

An official of rights agency, Human Rights Watch, Louis Charbonneau remarked that “the vote in the General Assembly shows why a competition for UN elections is essential” after Slovenia edged Belarus for the seat going to Eastern Europe and obtained 153 votes, against 38 in Belarus.

“UN member states have undoubtedly decided that Belarus’ grave human rights violations at home and attempts to cover up Russian atrocities in Ukraine disqualify it from serving on the Security Council, a crucial body for ensuring human rights. humans,” he added.

Algeria got 184 votes, South Korea 180 votes, Sierra Leone 188 votes and Guyana 191 in a single candidate votes for four seat reserved for Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean.

There has been a long debate about the place of Africa in international relations. At the inception of the United Nations, only four independent African countries represented the continent when 50 representatives of different countries met in San Francisco, California, in 1945 to complete the Charter of the United Nations.