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Groups holding out for peace say they hope peace talks with the transitional unity government in Nairobi can resume soon, suggesting the new move could be the country’s last chance for long-term stability.
Earlier, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition, the main opposition political group in South Sudan, led by First Vice President Riek Machar, announced on Tuesday that it would withdraw from the peace talks held in Kenya, known as the “Tumani Peace Initiative.”
Transitional government head Machar believes the Nairobi talks go beyond the mandate and undermine the country’s existing peace agreement and sovereignty.
The party said some of the protocols signed during the peace talks included parallel institutions that duplicated the reformulated peace terms.
“All parties are coming together to resume negotiations and we expect the SPLM-IO to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. We believe the SPLM-IO will come back and we believe the SPLM-IO political bureau has not been adequately briefed on the agreement we have reached,” Lual Dau, secretary general of the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA), said on Radio Tamazuj on Sunday.
Luar insisted that the only solution to the conflict and crisis in South Sudan is a negotiated political solution involving all political parties and stakeholders, adding that the Toumani Initiative is the only platform to achieve the desired outcome.
“We are doing our best and the government delegation in Juba will brief them. The Kenyan mediators and our opposition will also brief the SPLM-IO so that they can come back,” he said.
Opposition officials revealed that the parties to the Toumani Initiative have yet to negotiate and reach agreement on the constitutional process, judiciary, economy, power-sharing and implementation matrix.
Ruard said discussions and development of the implementation matrix would likely take a long time.
“We want to have a clear implementation plan with a clear budget and timeline, which will take more time. But we want to tell the public that we are on track to reach a peace agreement this year because we have made progress,” he said.
“Some technical committees are working, which were established before the SPLM-IO withdrawal. In fact, the SPLM-IO peace delegation is still in Nairobi but has not attended any meetings since its Political Bureau announced its withdrawal from the talks. However, we hope that they will return to the talks soon,” he added.
Luard said some members of the government delegation that participated in the Toumani initiative had returned to Juba earlier this week to hold consultations on the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition’s withdrawal from the negotiations.
On May 9, peace talks between the South Sudanese government and some resistance groups were launched in Kenya.
The mediation was led by former Kenyan army commander Lazarus Sumbeiywo, who also brokered the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, which granted South Sudan autonomy and subsequently facilitated the 2011 independence referendum.
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