Former Vice President Abel Alier called for unity as delegates concluded the regional dialogue conference for Equatoria in Juba Saturday.
Alier served as Vice President of Sudan between 1971 and 1982 and as President of the High Executive Council of the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region between 1972 and 1978.
In his final message from the August 26-31 gathering, the veteran politician stressed the importance of unity and love among the people of South Sudan.
“Almighty God created South Sudan and gave it fertile land… Let’s understand that Almighty God has favoured South Sudan,” Abel said.
“Let’s be grateful to God so that we make use of this land. Let’s understand one another, love one another and work together for the welfare of South Sudan,” he added.
Abel, who is the co-chair of the national dialogue committee, commended the delegates for adopting resolutions in favour of finding solutions to problems facing South Sudan.
“If South Sudan goes by such resolutions, it will be stable, united and hardworking. The resolutions adopted are very important, “he said.
Resolutions
The delegates representing 24 counties of the three former states of Equatoria region endorsed the establishment of a federal system with more powers devolved to the states.
The forum, according to a communiqué seen by Radio Tamazuj, proposed 39 states as sub-units of the federal system to be shared equally among the three regions of Bahr el Ghazal, Equatoria and Upper Nile, each with 13 states.
The conference further endorses a presidential system of government and limits federal powers over the states. “The conference recommends four-year term of office for president, and if re-elected can only serve for another four years,” the communiqué reads in part.
The delegates recommended that the post of president should rotate among the three regions of Bahr el Ghazal, Equatoria and Upper Nile. They added that it should start immediately after the end of the transitional period stipulated in the September 2018 peace deal.
The conference also recommended that land shall belong to the community and be protected by the government and it shall be managed and administered by the local government in collaboration with the indigenous communities.
The delegates also called for the enforcement of affirmative action to enable full participation of women, youth and people with special needs in governance.
They called upon the government to make peace a priority in order to restore macroeconomic stability in the country.
The conference also called for the establishment of a unified, regionally balanced, and ethnically representative, professional national army and organized forces.
The forum also called for return of all pastoralists currently in Equatoria to their place of origin and further called for the disarmament of all pastoralists.
The delegates endorsed the outcome of the Abyei referendum and urged the government of South Sudan to stand with the people of Abyei.
Similar regional conferences were conducted in February and May for the Greater Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile regions respectively.
In December 2016, President Salva Kiir launched the national dialogue initiative that seeks to reconcile and unite the nation torn apart by civil war.