JUBA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Wednesday night appointed Chol Thon Balok as the new defense minister, replacing Angelina Teny from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM/IO).

Kiir made the announcement in a presidential decree broadcast on state-owned television, the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation.

Prior to his appointment, Thon was the deputy defense minister.

On March 3, Kiir sacked Teny as the minister of defense and veteran affairs, a move that has been protested by the SPLM-IO under First Vice President Riek Machar. Teny is Machar's wife.

Kiir also fired Interior Minister Mahmoud Solomon. No reason was given for either dismissal.

The South Sudanese leader is yet to appoint an interior minister.

Under the 2018 revitalized peace deal, Kiir's SPLM-In Government (SPLM-IG) controls the Ministry of Interior while SPLM-IO is in charge of the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs, but this has been reversed, meaning the SPLM-IG is now in control of the Defense Ministry while SPLM-IO is in charge of the Interior Ministry.

Machar's acting Press Secretary Puok Both Baluang said the decision to appoint a defense minister from Kiir's party is a violation of the 2018 peace deal.

"No breakthrough was reached at all meetings between Kiir and Machar in order to overcome the current deadlock. Consequently, today's (Wednesday) appointment of Thon as minister of defense and veteran affairs is unilateral and a blatant new violation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan," Baluang said.

Both Kiir and Machar as well as other political leaders signed a peace agreement in 2018 that ended five years of civil war. Enditem

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