We have tried our best to enforce peace pact, south Sudan leader tells Kenyan TV

We have tried our best to enforce peace pact, south Sudan leader tells Kenyan TV
BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom
Published: Jan 10, 2007

Text of report by Kenyan KTN TV on 10 January

[Presenter] Yesterday, Khartoum and the SPLA [Sudan People’s Liberation Army] clashed over the implementation of the Sudan peace pact. And despite the south feeling short-changed in the wealth-sharing protocol, it is non-committal on whether secession is an option should the peace deal go sour.

According to the peace agreement, a cease-fire should be upheld until a referendum is conducted to determine unity or secession. But what other options are there?

KTN’s Alex Chamwada had an exclusive interview with President Salva Kiir of the Government of Southern Sudan in the Office of the President in Juba [capital of southern Sudan].

[Kiir] Well, there are so many options. We have not yet given up that we have totally failed with our partners. And when we realized, when we say that our partners are not implementing the CPA [comprehensive peace agreement] in good faith as we agreed, then the regional actors – that is the IGAD [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development] countries, who mediated the peace agreement, and then the troika – all these countries will then be asked, we will ask them to come in, so that they also come and push us to implement the agreement.

[Alex Chamwada] And it is said that the international community has abandoned southern Sudan and diverted attention to [war-torn] Darfur. Would you say you are under the mercy of the international community?

[Kiir] Well, you see it is true that soon after the signing of the CPA, the attention was shifted to Darfur. Despite the fact that the international community has even failed to achieve peace in Darfur. They may fail to achieve anything neither in southern Sudan or in Darfur.

[Chamwada] On your part, would you say you have confidently played your role.

[Kiir] Well, we have tried our best in the south to implement the agreement. We have formed so far so many other commissions and starting from Day One after the constitution was signed, we then formed all the assemblies, starting from the National Assembly, the Council of States, formation of the Government of National Unity, where we have our share in the government according to the power-sharing protocol.

And we came and formed the parliament of southern Sudan. We have also formed the government and then wrote the constitutions. The constitution of southern Sudan, the states’ constitutions. And then we formed the governments of 10 states in southern Sudan.