Duer pushes back formation of interim council over delayed arrival of opposition politicians from Juba

JUBA – South Sudan’s holdout opposition leader Duer Tut Duer has delayed the establishment of the holdout SPLM-IO interim political council to give time for opposition politicians who are still in Juba to arrive.

This comes exactly one month after Duer, a former SPLM-IO governor of the defunct Sobat State, removed First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny from the leadership of the main armed opposition group before declaring himself the interim leader.

On July, Duer made a widely expected declaration removing Machar from the SPLM-IO leadership. He then declared in the same statement that he is now the interim main armed opposition leader.

He also announced that an interim council composed of at least 21 opposition members was going to be unveiled. That council has not however been established and when contacted by Sudans Post, Duer said he was waiting for some opposition members to come out of Juba before forming the council.

“The Interim Council of 21 members is not yet established because we are waiting for some of our members who are still in Juba to come out from there,” Duer told Sudans Post from the Sudanese capital Khartoum.

“We are also waiting for members of other organizations who are preparing themselves to join us. We want all to come first before the formation of the Interim Council,” the top opposition official further added.