S. Sudanese advocacy group presses opposition NAS to put its house in order
By Daniel Pou
September 4 (JUBA) – The Foundation for Democracy and Accountable Governance (FODAG) Tuesday said deeply concerned by the split that the opposition National Salvation Front (NAS) which may again slow and derail the already signed peace agreement.
Last August, a group of NAS officers led by Maj. Gen. Julius Tabuley disapproved the rejection of the deal on the revitalized governance chapter pointing out it had been taken without consultation with the movement’s leadership. They also relieved General Thomas Cirillo Swaka from the chairmanship of the group.
In return, Swaka sacked the splinters and accused them of “subversive activities” to overthrow him.
The Juba-based advocacy body believes the division within NAS may confront and undermine the spirit of peaceful resolution of the conflict in the country.
“We, believes, the various factions within NAS may have genuine concerns, confronting these concerns without first addressing the divisions, is bound to impede on the party’s collective effort to negotiating in good faith and may undermine the spirit of peaceful resolution of the conflict in the country,” Said Kolok.
The foundation appealed to NAS leadership to reconsider their different positions, unite and embrace the spirit of collective approach to engage with the rest of the parties.
“As the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) prepares to address some of the concerns raised by the SPLM-IO, FODAG believes their issues shouldn’t be addressed in isolation of other emerging concerns, including the ones raised by NAS,”.said FODAG boss
South Sudanese parties and stakeholders signed are finalizing talks to revitalize the peace agreement of 2015. They are expected to sign the final revitalized agreement in the upcoming weeks as the negotiating delegations still have some disagreement to be arbitrated by the IGAd leaders who mediated the process.
(ST)