JUBA, South Sudan 

The South Sudan main opposition Party, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition​​​​​​​, on Wednesday appointed an interim chair as the party's First Vice President Riek Machar remains under house arrest.

Machar was placed under house arrest by President Salva Kiir Mayardit last month.

The opposition's National Liberation Council nominated and approved Stephen Par Kuol, minister of peacebuilding in the transitional unity government, as the interim chair until Machar is released.

“As we move forward, the SPLM IO remains resolute in our mission to advocate for the rights and dignity of all South Sudanese and to foster a future rooted in peace. unity, and reconciliation,” the new interim chair said during the consultative meeting held in the capital Juba.

He said the party delinked itself from Nathaniel Oyet Pierino, the exiled party deputy.

Meanwhile, Losuba Ludoru Wongo was approved as the deputy chairman and Agok Makur Kur as the secretary-general.

The party, which is part and parcel of the national unity government, cannot be led or take orders from a self-exiled leaders. Party and government decision are always taken where the seat of the party and/or government is established and not via remote,” Kuol said.

He reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the implementation of the 2018 peace agreement, both in letter and spirit.

“We believe that this agreement is the sole pathway to achieving lasting peace and reconciliation among the diverse communities of South Sudan,” he said. He also called for the immediate release of Machar.

Oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, and slid into civil war two years later.

The 2018 peace deal’s implantation has been slow, and recent tensions rose after deadly clashes between a rebel group known as the White Army, believed to be allied with Machar, and the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces in Nasir County of northeastern state of Upper Nile.