‘Stakeholders’ reject extension of South Sudan’s transitional period
August 14, 2022 (NAIROBI/JUBA) – A group of “like minded” South Sudanese stakeholder have “categorically” reject the extension by the parties of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) period.
Calling themselves “Like-Minded Stakeholders for a New Political Dispensation in South Sudan”, the group called for immediate reversal of the decision.
South Sudanese parties to the 2018 peace deal recently signed a roadmap extending the transitional period for 24 months, starting February 22, 2023.
The extension of the transitional government period ideally means that South Sudan will not hold the country’s general elections in February 2023.
“Like-minded” stakeholders, in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, said the transitional government term had already been extended twice in the pre-transitional period and “failed to achieve sustainable peace”.
The statement was issued after the group met to deliberate on the unilateral extension of the transitional period by the coalition government.
The participants in the meeting, held on August 6, 2022, consisted of the Non-Signatory South Sudanese Opposition groups (NSSOG) to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCRSS), other opposition movements, the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA), other civil society organisations, women groups, youth associations, religious leaders and prominent personalities.
“We reiterate our position that the R-ARCSS is a flawed agreement that has not addressed the root causes of the conflict in the country and hence will not lead to sustainable peace. The agreement has only exacerbated the suffering of the people of South Sudan,” partly reads the statement.
It added, “We call upon the people of South Sudan, in all their diversities, to unite and embark on broad-based consultative processes that would culminate in an inclusive political dialogue by all the South Sudanese stakeholders in a round table conference, in a neutral place, to agree on a new viable transitional arrangement”.
Meanwhile, the various stakeholders appealed to members states of the East African Community (EAC) , regional bloc (IGAD), African Union, United Nations, Troika nations all other friends of South Sudan to citizens in their desire to unite and shape the future through an inclusive national political process.
(ST)