The Political Bureau of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) met on Tuesday in Juba and resolved to withdraw from the ongoing Kenyan-mediated peace talks between the government and holdout opposition groups in Nairobi.
The negotiating parties at the talks dubbed the Tumaini (Hope) Initiative, Monday, initialed eight protocols.
However, the resolution of the SPLM-IO’s top organ seen by this publication said the opposition outfit rejected the initialed protocols and declared its withdrawal from the talks which it now says has deviated from the intended purpose.
“The SPLM/SPLA (I0) Political Bureau met on July 16, 2024, to deliberate on the Protocols of “Tumaini Consensus for Sustainable Peace in South Sudan” that were initialed by the Parties and Stakeholders to the Tumaini Initiative,” the resolution reads in part. “The initialed Protocols establish alternative institutions, replacing or running in parallel with those in R-ARCSS besides repeating most provisions in R-ARCSS or existing national laws. The Protocols clearly breach the R-ARCSS and undermine the ongoing peace implementation processes.”
According to the SPLM-IO, the Tumaini Initiative was supposedly a mediation forum but the initialed protocols now prove that this is not the case.
“The Initiative has arrogated to itself many roles including being a funder, a supervisor, a coordinator, a convener of a donor conference, a fund manager, a monitor of the implementation, a guarantor and a governing authority. Therefore, the “Tumaini Initiative” undermines the sovereignty of the Republic of South Sudan,” the SPLM-IO charged. “The proposed Security Sector Reforms/Oversight Commission takes over functions of the following existing mechanisms and institutions of R-ARCSS: Security Supervision Mechanism (SSM), head and deputy appointed by IGAD, Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM), head and deputy appointed by IGAD, Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), head and deputy appointed by IGAD, Strategic Defense and Security Review Board (SDSRB), co-chaired by the Parties to the R-ARCSS and National Transitional Committee (NTC).”
The SPLM-IO also contends that the proposed National Leadership Council (NLC) whose decisions “shall be final and not subject to approval by the Cabinet or Legislature” usurps the powers of the Presidency, the Council of Ministers, the National Legislature, and the National Security Council.
“The roles of the guarantors namely; IGAD, AU, C5, UN, EU, Troika, and IGAD Partners Forum, who are seized of the peace process in South Sudan, are muted,” the SPLM-IO asserted. “In light of the above development, the SPLM/SPLA (IO) rejects the initialed Protocols and declares its withdrawal from the Tumaini Initiative as it has deviated from the intended purpose of being an Annex to R-ARCSS and not a stand-alone Agreement.”
“In conclusion, we would like to reiterate our unwavering commitment to inclusive peace and implementation of the R-ARCSS as the only viable framework for attaining sustainable peace and stability in South Sudan,” the opposition outfit resolved.