Kiir, Machar agree to exchange votes for candidates to East African parliament

JUBA – South Sudan’s ruling SPLM party led by President Slava Kiir Mayardit has agreed with its main rival, SPLM-IO, led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny to exchange their votes for lawmakers vying to represent the country at the East African parliament.

The Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA) is expected to hold votes for South Sudanese officials who have applied to represent the country in the regional parliament on Friday, according to several parliamentary officials.

In a letter directed to its Chief Whip in parliament Rebecca Joshua Okwaci, the SPLM-IG party directed its many members in the peace parliament to vote for their counterparts in the SPLM-IO and South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) in return for the same.

“Voters must be members of Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA); 2. All partners to Transitional National Legislative Assembly must vote for the nine (9) candidates, five (5) members from SPLM-IG, two (2) members from SPLM-IO, one (1) member from SSOA and one member from OPP,” Kuol Atem Bol, Secretary for Political Affairs, Organization and Mobilization SPLM National Secretariat, said in the letter.

“In order to isolate independent candidates, all the four (4) Chief Whips that are partners to Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) must consult and coordinate with each other and ensure that all the members to TNLA must vote for nine (9) nominated candidates only,” the statement added.

The statement further said that no lawmaker from the two leading political groups is allowed to vote for independent candidates and that any SPLM-IG member who vote for independent candidate will be dealt with according to SPLM-IG rules.

“No member of Transitional National Legislative Assembly from the partners is allowed to vote for any independent candidates,” the letter addressed to Rebecca Joshua Okwaci said.

“Any member of TNLA especially the SPLM-IG that will vote for any independent candidate will faced SPLM party disciplinary and administrative majors and … all the four Chief Whips should come up with one unified list of the nine (9) nominated candidates to EALA and shared among the members of TNLA to void inconvenience and ease the voting process,” it added.