The three main factions of South Sudan’s ruling SPLM party yesterday agreed on a framework for intraparty dialogue in Arusha, Tanzania, and admitted responsibility for the civil war.
The framework and accompanying communique, both linked for download below, are the result of an initiative of the Tanzanian ruling party CCM and the SPLM-Juba aimed at reuniting the now divided SPLM.
This so-called Arusha Process began on 12 October and is separate from the IGAD-led peace negotiations in Addis Ababa which are meant to include all South Sudanese stakeholders within and outside the SPLM.
In mid-December, the SPLM split into the SPLM-Juba of Salva Kiir, SPLM-In Opposition of Riek Machar, and SPLM-G10 comprising the “Former Detainees.”
The Arusha framework lays out discussion guidelines and talking points and commits the three SPLM factions to meet again in two weeks.
In the communique, the three parties “acknowledge a collective responsibility for the crisis in South Sudan that has taken a great toll on the lives and property of our people.”
The parties also admited that “a divided SPLM will automatically fragment the country along ethnic and regional fault lines.” Previously, SPLM leaders had downplayed the ethnic nature of the fighting.