South Sudan sets April 2018 deadline for dialogue process
October 20, 2017 (JUBA) -The South Sudanese national dialogue body said it intends to set April 2018 as a deadline for the conclusion of the political process, stressing it would not be an indefinite process.
The Co-chair of the National Dialogue Steering Committee Angelo Beda told Sudan Tribune on Friday that the first document of the committee envisioned April 2018 as the last month in which the process would be closed.
“It is not going to be an indefinite process. There is a deadline and it is there in the first document. We are hoping that the outcome of the process is concluded by April 2018. So there is still enough time to make consultations,” Beda, told Sudan Tribune.
He disclosed that the subcommittees have already started moving to the states for grassroots consultations.
“When we finish with grassroots consultation, we will move to regional consultations which will culminate in the national round table conference and thereafter the outcome is announced,” he added.
The dialogue co-chair was reacting to a question asking him to comment on the length of time the process would take.
President Salva Kiir, he said, has relinquished his patronage role of the process and it was now up to the committee to guide the process as an independent body.
The committee, he added, will only be consulting the president either as the head of state or as one of the key stakeholders in the process.
(ST)