S. Sudan former detainees say still part of opposition alliance

May 21, 2018 (JUBA) – Members of South Sudan former political detainees have dismissed media reports that they withdrew from the membership of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA).

“We would like to state categorically that SPLM [Sudan People’s Liberation Movement] (FDs) as an organization is an active and committed member of South Sudan Opposition Alliance,” the group said in a statement.

The FDs said the “false” and “baseless” allegation as well as propaganda was being circulated by “enemies of peace and unity of the opposition”.

“The SPLM-FDs is a founding member of SSOA and played a great role together with the rest in developing its charter,” it further said.

The opposition alliance, the group further observed, is committed to a just, inclusive, and sustainable peace in South Sudan, through a true democratic and federal system of governance.

“In this context, SSOA is still committed to its declared positions in both the shuttle diplomacy and the intensive interlinked consultations that were organized by IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] as basis for resolving the current conflict,” the statement noted.

In March, nine South Sudanese opposition groups formed an alliance to expedite efforts to end the country’s civil war ahead of the next round of the revitalization of the peace accord. The alliance is an umbrella group composed of the Federal Democratic Party, National Salvation Front, National Democratic Movement, People’s Democratic Movement, South Sudan Liberation Movement, South Sudan National Movement for Change, South Sudan Patriotic Movement, South Sudan United Movement and United Democratic Alliance.

The group, in an earlier statement, claimed they were driven by the desire to improve the situation in the war-torn nation and prevent it from disintegrating.

(ST)