The United Nations (UN) has warned South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir that any political appointments must be consistent with a peace deal that ended nearly two years of civil war.
The warning came a day after Kiir replaced his vice president and rival Riek Machar with Taban Deng, in a move that could potentially undermine August’s peace agreement and send the world’s youngest country back to all-out conflict.
“Any political appointments need to be consistent with the provisions outlined in the peace agreement,” UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York on Tuesday.
Machar left the South Sudanese capital Juba earlier this month after an eruption of violence in the city when forces loyal to Kiir and Machar battled each other for several days with tanks, helicopters and other heavy weapons.
An August peace agreement states that the vice president must be chosen by the South Sudan Armed Opposition. Machar was sworn in as vice president in April.
However, Kiir replaced Machar on Monday with General Taban Deng Gai, a former chief opposition negotiator who has broken ranks with Machar and has the support of some other opposition members.
Deng Gai, who was the chief negotiator for Machar’s SPLM-IO group during the peace talks, and some other opposition members backed Kiir’s ultimatum. Machar said on Friday he had fired Deng Gai and accused him of defecting to Kiir’s party.
“We call on all parties to ensure that the ceasefire is maintained and that any divisions within the opposition or between the parties be dealt with peacefully through dialogue,” Haq said.
Machar has said he would only return to Juba after international troops were deployed as a buffer force to separate his forces from Kiir’s.