The post was left vacant by Salva Kiir on Friday after members of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), an umbrella grouping of eight opposition parties, failed to select one candidate for the vice president position. Members of the opposition alliance had nominated six leaders from their various political organizations for the post and authorized President Kiir to pick one of the candidates. The move was rejected by the National Democratic Movement (NDM), a member of the opposition coalition. It said that the choice of a position belonging to the opposition alliance cannot be made by another party to the peace deal. But this Sunday afternoon the president of the Republic of South Sudan has appointed Gen Hussein Abdelbagi as his fifth deputy as part of the peace deal. The opposition official said they welcome the appointment of Gen Hussein Abdelbagi as the fifth vice president of the transitional government of national unity.