The former political detainees in the coalition government led by foreign minister Deng Alor Kuol have taken the view that Kiir’s national dialogue is unlikely to succeed because the deliberations are very critical of the president, according to a leaked IGAD report.
The former detainees are a group of high level SPLM leaders who were arrested and released at the start of the South Sudan Civil War in December 2013 before going into exile in neighbouring countries.
The document obtained by Radio Tamazuj said foreign minister, Deng Alor, transport minister, John Luk and member of the national parliament; Madut Biar represented the former detainees group during a separate consultative meeting with the IGAD council of ministers in Juba recently.
The group, according to the report, feels that there is little progress in the implementation of the 205 peace deal and their participation in the government depends on the outcomes of the revitalization process.
The report also pointed out that the former political detainees in Juba said the collapse of the country’s economy is mainly due to poor economic policies pursued by the government.
The IGAD report also said the group blamed the government for the growing rebellion across the country, saying that some aspects of the peace agreement, such as security arrangements, should be renegotiated because of the growing rebellion and the need to negotiate new ceasefire agreement.
The former detainees emphasized on the need to agree on new realistic timelines for the transition, according to the report.
The group, the report said, raised concerns about the politics within SPLM-IO and muted tension between SPLM-IO group led by rebel leader Riek Machar and SPLM-IO faction allied to First Vice President Taban Deng Gai.
“The former detainees reiterated the need to clearly define the meaning of peace revitalization,” the report said.