Controversial. Hon Mayen maintains he is still OPP leader

Controversial. Hon Mayen maintains he is still OPP leader

The National Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Peter Mayen Majongdit has affirmed that he is the bonafide Chairperson of the People’s Liberal Party (PLP) and the leader of the Other Opposition Parties (OPP).
Mayen spoke on Wednesday when the 28 parliamentary party nominees got sworn in to put the lengthy party wrangles to rest saying no other person is recognized as the leader of the outfit apart from him.
Mr. Mayen, who is one of the signatories to the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), has urged the public to forget all the dramas staged against him when the umbrella affiliates sought an agreement on how to share the 28 slots.

He was speaking to The City Review after the swearing ceremony of the 28 OPP members into the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA).

Accusations

Mr. Mayen had been accused several times by his party members of misconduct and taking unilateral decisions on the affairs of political parties especially when he allegedly stormed a football pitch in Aweil and forcefully withdrew his wife from the match.

In another wave to remove Mayen, the National Leadership Committee of the People’s Liberal Party under the umbrella of the Other Political Parties (OPP) dismissed him as the chair of PLP and OPP and replaced him by Dr. Abraham Bungkuac Alic as Interim Chairperson of OPP. Later on, his dismissal was subsequently endorsed by members of the Other Political Parties.

However, after being sworn in on Wednesday, Mayen said he was still the Chairman of the PLP as well as the leader of the OPP.

He said party members are only dismissed through the general assembly.

He said that those who purported to have removed him strayed away from the right channels hence his position remains unchanged.

“I have never been terminated and people are not terminated in Facebook.

“When you terminate a party leader like me, it is only done through a general assembly. You invite the members of the national executive committee and it is the committee that will come out openly and say “we have terminated you,’’ he said.

“But you cannot just go and sit in a place of tea or be in your Facebook with your drink and you just push something to the media,” Mayen stressed.

Early last month, a meeting that was organized by IGAD Special Envoy to South Sudan Dr. Ismail Wais ended prematurely after Mr. Mayen allegedly stormed the meeting with 30 men who were not party members. The meeting was said to have been convened to formally terminate his status as a peace partner in the Revitalised Peace Agreement and possibly iron out the nomination hitches that tore the party.