South Sudan presidency spokesman says ‘no clear successor’ to replace Kiir

JUBA – South Sudan presidency has said that there is no clear successor for President Salva Kiir Mayardit framing him as a unifying factor in the world’s youngest country without whom the country could descend to chaos.

Speaking in an interview with RBC TV, a local YouTube channel that hosts interviews with senior government officials, Ateny Wek Ateny, President Kiir’s press secretary, said those organizing protests are not aware of the political dispensation of the country.

“If he decides now, as I speak with you, to step aside, what will ensue afterward will be chaos in the country because up to the moment I’m speaking to you, there’s no clear successor as to who should succeed President Salva Kiir,” Ateny said.

“The successor is actually selected through a democratic process. For instance, the party goes to its convention. They go and nominate or vote for candidates then, later on, they are sent to the liberation council and finally, the Political Bureau of the party will decide who should be the President,” Ateny stressed.

A newly-formed civil rights movement, the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA), is mobilizing the people of South Sudan to take to the streets on August 30 to call for end to President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s rule.

Ateny said those calling for Kiir-Machar exit from power are calling for war and said the only political settlement that will bring peace to the world’s youngest country is the revitalized peace agreement signed in 2018 by the two leaders.

“So, when you talk about Riek Machar stepping aside or President Kiir stepping aside, then you are calling for war in the country. I’m not saying that the future of South Sudan is depending on them. They are human beings […] and the power of nature can even come in,” he said.

“But I’m talking about the current political arrangement. The current political arrangement is that the interim period should elapse comes 2023 and six months before the elapse of the transitional period, there will have to be an election in the country.

“The people of South Sudan [after the transitional period] will be able, for the first time, to choose their leaders. But anyone asking for [regime] change before that period is actually asking for South Sudan to kill itself, he’s calling for a suicide,” he added..

Ateny also wondered why the leaders of the People’s Coalition for Civil Action want to turn against the government after taking part in the implementation process of the peace agreement. He feigned ignorance on what their mission was.

“Now I’m telling you, if this is what the civil action is for because they’re asking for the regime to be changed in the manner they ascribed to, I think they’re so elusive and have forgotten how South Sudan came to be what it is today,” he said.