SPLM cadres challenge Greater Pibor primaries
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Radio Tamazuj
SPLM cadres challenge the impartiality of primaries held in Greater Pibor ahead of December’s general elections. They accuse the party’s electoral committee of favouring a candidate and denounce the exclusion of 21 delegates from Likuangole, according to Radio Tamazuj.
SPLM cadres, the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in South Sudan, are challenging the organisation of the party’s primaries in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA). They accuse the team in charge of the vote of favouring a candidate and are calling for its replacement by a neutral commission, according to Radio Tamazuj.
The process, led for about two weeks by Nadia Arop Dudi, a member of the SPLM Political Bureau, was suspended on Friday because of technical difficulties. Joseph Logelo, a delegate from Likuangole, said 21 elected delegates from the area were prevented from entering the town of Pibor to take part in the selection of the SPLM chairperson in the GPAA, according to Radio Tamazuj.
The challengers also accuse Beko Konyi, the former SPLM secretary-general in the area and technical adviser to the electoral committee, of supporting former chief administrator Gola Boyoi Gola. They also question interim chief administrator Joseph Boyoi Ngare, whom they accuse of colluding with the committee to favour Gola, according to Radio Tamazuj.
The cadres are asking the SPLM national secretariat to replace Nadia Arop Dudi, Beko Konyi and Joseph Boyoi Ngare in overseeing the process. The primaries are part of the party’s nationwide reorganisation and the selection of its candidates ahead of the general elections scheduled for December, according to Radio Tamazuj.
The tensions come as the SPLM prepares for its reorganisation for the December elections. The party announced on 1 November a reorganisation aimed at strengthening its electoral preparations, according to information published by Radio Tamazuj.
