S. Sudanese diplomat Nazario says he resigned to avoid being complicit in “failure”

June 5, 2014 (JUBA) – South Sudanese diplomat Francis Nazario said the “failure” by government to amicably resolve the country’s ongoing conflict was behind his recent decision to resign from active service.

Nazario’s resignation drew mixed reactions from within the foreign affairs ministry, with some accusing him of using social media and news websites to advance his decision instead of following proper procedures and processes.

Diplomatic sources, however, claimed the official may have opted out of civil service after he saw no future in his diplomacy career within the current government under president Salva Kiir’s leadership.

“My reading of this decision is into two folds: you know that ambassador Francis George Nazario was recalled to the headquarters after he was posted as one of the diplomats at the permanent mission to the United Nations,” a foreign affairs official told Sudan Tribune.

“He sees that as not [being] one of his mistakes because the reason he was recalled was because he voted in favour of a resolution, which supported self-determination for a Palestinian state at the United Nations Security Council in 2012,” he added.

In 2012, Nazario was recalled by the foreign affairs ministry after he voted in favor of the resolution that supported the right of self-determination of the Palestinians.

In his defence, however, Nazario said then that he delivered a speech already prepared by the country’s ambassador to the UN Francis Deng, adding that it also reflected government’s position since both president Salva Kiir and former minister for foreign affairs Nhial Deng Nhial had been consulted on the matter.

Another issue that may have forced Nazario out of service was the alleged cancellation of his name from the list of diplomats earmarked for foreign missions.

The ministry official said Nazario had been due to be posted to Brussels, but he later learnt his appointment had been cancelled.

(ST)