SPLM-IO does not encourage renegotiation of peace deal: official
December 28, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – A recent suggestion by leadership of an armed opposition faction that South Sudanese president, Salva Kiir, should have tabled his proposal of 28 states to peace parties for discussion did not mean renegotiation of the peace agreement signed in August, said an official of the opposition faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by former vice-president, Riek Machar.
Machar in the statement however said president Kiir should have instead tabled the 28 states proposal to the representatives of the parties in the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) for discussion and should not have acted unilaterally by appointing the governors.
JMEC is a body established by the peace agreement to oversee and monitor the implementation of the accord and is chaired by former president of Botswana, Festus Mogae, with membership from representatives of the parties to the deal as well as representatives of regional and international bodies.
Mogae had earlier warned the parties in their first meeting in Juba last week that there should be no renegotiation to the peace agreement, adding that the parties should implement the agreement in spirit and to the letter.
The suggestion by the opposition leader, Machar, on tabling the 28 states to JMEC seemed to have reopened for renegotiation of the peace deal for possible alteration to accommodate the new situation, which attracted reactions in the social media, with members from various blogs and groupings criticizing renegotiation of the three months old deal.
But an opposition’s media official however said his boss’ suggestion had been misrepresented, saying his suggestion did not mean approval to reopen the peace deal for renegotiation by the representatives of the parties in the JMEC.
“No, I think some people have misrepresented his suggestion. He [Machar] was not encouraging renegotiation of the peace deal in order to accommodate the 28 states or so. What he meant is that tabling the proposal to the JMEC for discussion would have been a better approach in forging an understanding, instead of the unilateral action by president Salva Kiir,” James Gatdet Dak, spokesperson of the opposition leader, told Sudan Tribune on Monday.
Tabling the proposal to the JMEC for discussion, he said, would not mean approving the 28 states. He said this would have been an opportunity to remind the government through the JMEC body that the matter will be tackled collectively by all parties through the mechanisms provided for in the peace agreement including in the transitional constitutional amendment or in the permanent constitution making process.
The opposition faction, he said, does not encourage renegotiation of the peace deal, adding that such new proposals by the government are a threat to the accord, particularly when they do not come through the right channels under the right mechanisms established by the peace agreement.
The leadership of the SPLM-IO, he said, remained committed to the implementation of the peace deal and called on the government to be patient and reverse the unilateral decision in the interest of peace.
“Even on our part we have been waiting patiently with our proposal of 21 federal states which we base on former colonial districts in the country,” he said.
He also revealed that the opposition was waiting for the right moment to table the 21 federal states for adoption.
The opposition group during the IGAD mediated peace negotiations in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, proposed the 21 states with their boundaries as they stood from 1956 when Sudan gained independence from Britain, but the government rejected the proposal, arguing that the country was not ready for federal system of governance or creation of more states.
IGAD mediation persuaded the SPLM-IO to sign the peace agreement based on the now defunct constitutionally recognized 10 states, and provided a mechanism for further discussions on the matter by all parties in the agreement.
However, a month later after the signing of the peace deal in August, the government unilaterally decreed 28 states, altering power sharing provisions in contravention to the peace deal.
Minister of information and broadcasting, Michael Makuei Lueth, who is the spokesperson of the government and acting chief negotiator in the peace process, said earlier that the creation of more states would serve the purpose of the opposition faction due to increase in the number of states in their region of power sharing for better positions accommodation.
But the opposition’s media official criticized the justification from the government, counter arguing that the matter was not exclusively about power sharing.
He reminded that the opposition faction was for restructuring of the country into 21 states on the basis of federalism, not for accommodation purposes, but for effective governance system which would make possible collective decision making in diversity and bring urban development closer to the people in villages.
Dak added that in addition to the power sharing deal in the agreement which would be affected by the new 28 states proposal, all parties should be involved in deciding on how many states the country should establish after through collective study and agreement on the matter if the country is to go federal.
He said the opposition leadership had called upon the regional and international partners in the peace implementation to exert pressure on president Kiir to reverse his decision, adding that the opposition group may call for further leadership consultations if the international community will fail to persuade the government.
Observers however say president Kiir may continue to ignore the calls and bend on taking everybody for a ride as previous similar calls on the initial creation of the 28 states on 2 October did not make him to reverse the decision.
President Kiir made the decision four days after the arrival to the national capital, Juba, of 150 members of the advance team from the SPLM-IO which included their senior political and military leaders.
The new 28 governors are expected to be sworn in on Tuesday in Juba and effect the new changes.
(ST)