South Sudan opposition commander Gen. Dickson Gatluak has said that SSUF/A leader Gen. Paul Malong, who they removed over the weekend, cannot dismiss him and others from the rebel group and urged him to retire because he is “incapable”.
Gatluak on Saturday evening led a team of high-ranking political and military officials of South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) to accuse Malong of incompetency, before removing him in what Malong has described as a “coup”.
Malong responded by dismissing Gatluak and others who took over the leadership including Malong’s deputy and claimed that the rebel officers were caught red-handed engaging with the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
But in show of defiance, Gatluak said Malong has no legitimacy to remove him because he has already been removed by the party and called on the former South Sudan army chief to retire, saying that he is incapable of leading the movement.
“Malong has no legitimacy to dismiss us from the front. We are fighting for young leadership in South Sudan. Malong has to retire because he has become incapable of leading the front,” Gatluak told Radio Tamazuj on Monday.
PEACE TALKS WITH GOVERNMENT
The new self-imposed leader of SSUF/A further said that they are planning to decide as to whether they continue the Rome peace initiative being manned by the Community of Sant’Egidio or directly negotiate for a solution to the conflict with the government.
“Our goal is to have peace with the government and reconciliation between the people of South Sudan, because we do not want war, and we must achieve peace,” he said.
“We discussed with General Malong Awan many issues of the movement but he does not want change. That is why we decided to dismiss him and bring in new and young leadership,” he added.
