S. Sudan gov’t to respond to list of opposition advance team to Juba
December 4, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudanese government said Friday it has received an increased number of members of advance team of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), but yet to respond to the composition of the team.
“They (SPLM-IO) have divided the list into those delegates to visit 21 states. We [government] will study the list and respond to IGAD accordingly,” said Makuei, referring to the division of the country into 21 former colonial districts as proposed by the former vice president, Riek Machar.
The opposition group during the peace negotiations in Addis Ababa proposed federal system of governance for the country and divided the nation into 21 states, which the government rejected, forcing the parties to sign the peace agreement in August based on the current 10 states.
President Salva Kiir on 2 October however issued a presidential order 40 days after the signing of the peace agreement to create 28 states instead. The unilateral order was also rejected by the opposition group, saying it violated the peace agreement.
SPLM-IO says it applies the proposed 21 states for the purposes of its internal organization and not for power sharing with the government, adding they abide by the current 10 states as stipulated in the peace deal.
Minister Makuei said the government is yet to approve or reject the officials proposed by the first vice president designate, Machar.
The government has demanded the list of the advance team and their biographies including names, titles and assignments in the rebel ranks. The opposition group however said this was unnecessary.
The advance team is expected to arrive in Juba in days before the arrival of Machar to the capital at the end of December 2015 or in early January 2016.
No new date has been announced by the opposition and the government or by the mediators from the regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
Machar’s spokesman, James Gatdet Dak, in an interview broadcasted on Friday told the Juba-based Eye Radio that IGAD will communicate to the opposition faction’s leadership the new date of arrival to Juba for logistical preparations, including transportation of the team is completed.
Earlier, Dak told Sudan Tribune that two of their senior staff from the SPLM-IO’s secretariat had already arrived in Juba since Tuesday to assist the government in making the preparations for the arrival of the advance team.
(ST)