South Sudan gives reason for boycott
Too few seats allocated at negotiating table for peace talks
THE South Sudan government is boycotting peace talks, which are underway in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, on the grounds of insufficient seats provided for its negotiating team at the negotiations table, the Sudan Tribune has reported.
The second phase of the High Level Revitalisation Forum (HLRF), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) sponsored peace talks on South Sudan, kicked off on Monday and is scheduled to end on February 16.
The launch of the HLRF followed the signing of a cessation of hostilities agreement that has been poorly enforced by the two chief protagonists, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) of President Salva Kiir, and the SPLA-In Opposition led by Dr Riek Machar, who is currently in exile in South Africa.
The launch went ahead despite a boycott by Juba which stated that it had issues with the fact that regional bloc IGAD had only given the government negotiations team 12 seats at the negotiating table when “there was a need for every member of the team to have a seat”.
The second phase is discussing the implementation of a permanent ceasefire, which is part of the 2015 peace agreement, elaborating on a revised and realistic timeline and a schedule towards general elections in the country at the end of the interim period.
At the opening session the head of IGAD’s Council of Ministers, Workineh Gebeyehu, warned the players to the ongoing conflict in the world’s newest country that this was their last chance to try and bridge the political divide and reach a compromise if they wanted to see a cessation of hostilities.
The AU Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat further urged the participants to have the requisite seriousness and courage to shoulder their responsibility at this critical juncture in the history of their country.
“The commitment that had been made has never been honoured.
“Hardly had the ink on the cessation of hostilities agreement dried when clashes erupted in numerous parts of the country,” Mahamat stressed.
Ismail Wais, IGAD’s special envoy for South Sudan, urged the parties to desist from ceasefire violations while simultaneously warning that those who carried out violations would face sanctions from the AU, IGAD and the UN.
At the end of last year Festus Mogae, the head of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission and a former president of Botswana, called for a unified voice to end the conflict.
Mogae told parties from the coalition government that a one-voice approach would strengthen revitalisation efforts to end conflict in the country.
“Collectively, IGAD heads of state must prevail over the South Sudanese leadership to rethink the current trajectory of the country and take the necessary steps to restore peace and inclusive governance,” said Mogae.
To this end, a five-point approach was unveiled which Mogae said, if accepted and implemented by the relevant parties without hesitation, would end the country’s ongoing civil war, which began in 2013.
An inclusive political process, which brought together all parties and estranged groups, a cessation of all hostilities and a renegotiated permanent ceasefire that included all armed groups, was one of the best approaches, according to Mogae.
This approach would involve the establishment of transitional security arrangements with robust verification and enforcement mechanisms.
A clear plan of action to address the current dire humanitarian situation and facilitate eventual voluntary return of internally displaced persons and the repatriation of refugees was also necessary.
All of which would need to be enforced by a mechanism which incorporated accountability measures for spoilers and violators.
Mogae also called for specific reforms to ensure the conduct of credible, free and fair elections. – African News Agency (ANA)