SPLM-IO calls for resumption of Arusha process on reunification
January 9, 2016 (JUBA) – The main armed opposition faction of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) has called on the other two factions of SPLM in government and SPLM former detainees to resume the process on reunification of the historical party which the factions started in Arusha, Tanzania last year.
The statement is in reiteration of an earlier remark he made in his speech during the opening of the SPLM’s extraordinary convention on Thursday during which he called for reunification process to be done in accordance with the spirit and document signed in Arusha.
Gai, who attended both the opening and the closing of the convention on Saturday said he only attended to show good gesture after the appeal from regional leaders and directive from the SPLM-IO’s leadership.
“The SPLM (IO) was invited to attend the opening session. The IO was reluctant to attend because of our prior request to delay the extra ordinary convention until the conclusion of the work of the triplet committee,” Gai’s Saturday press statement partly reads.
“However, following the request from the Deputy President of South Africa and Deputy Chair of ANC Cyril Ramaphosa, the SPLM (IO) allowed its Chief Negotiator Gen Taban Deng Gai to attend the opening and closing sessions,” he revealed.
He however explained that he did not attend the deliberations, calling on the factions to resume work on the basic documents in a collective effort.
The SPLM-IO chief negotiator further said that any document passed unilaterally by the SPLM in government, including the party’s constitution will be subjected to study by the SPLM-IO and respond accordingly.
The Arusha reunification talks among the three factions produced a roadmap document which charted a way forward through which the parties can work on the basic documents and complete the reunification process.
SPLM in government is led by president Salva Kiir, SPLM-IO by former vice-president, Riek Machar, while SPLM former detainees by former secretary general, Pagan Amum.
The opposition factions earlier attempted to persuade the government to delay the holding of the extra-ordinary convention, but the government decided to convene it without participation of the rest.
An internal debate over reforms within the party turned violent on 15 December 2013, sparking the recently concluded 21 months of war when leaders in the ruling party could not agree on the future of the party.
The opposition’s chief negotiator in his speech at the opening of the SPLM extraordinary convention called on president Kiir’s government to reverse the unilateral decision in creating 28 states, saying it violated the peace agreement.
He also said the 28 states were a recipe for conflicts between communities over boundary disputes and lands taken from some communities and annexed to other communities.
(ST)