South Sudan’s opposition group the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In-Opposition (SPLM-IO) said its top leaders have yet to be given passports, despite their presence in Juba.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj today, Pouk Both Baluang, the SPLM-IO's director for information urged the government to issue opposition leader Riek Machar and other opposition figures passports “in the spirit of building confidence”.

“Dr. Machar, deputy chairman Henry Odwar, Madam Angelina and others haven’t been given South Sudan passports, despite their presence in Juba. Many SPLM-IO members do not have passports,” he explained.

The opposition official has appealed to the South Sudanese government to speed up the process of restoring passports of key opposition figures so they could move freely.

“The recent talks between President Kiir and Dr. Machar focused on the importance of allowing political freedoms across the country, so it is important that we start the implementation process,” he said.

Pouk stressed that South Sudan's rival parties need to build confidence to urgently implement major commitments of the revitalized peace deal. He reaffirmed his group’s commitment to implement the peace agreement.

David Shearer, head of the United Nations mission in South Sudan, told the UN Security Council last week that the first test of whether the political will exists between South Sudan’s leaders will be known when the 50-day review is held.

The senior UN official stressed that the status of opposition leader Riek Machar must be resolved, as he has yet to be given a passport, despite his presence in Juba for talks with President Kiir.

Government and opposition leaders have extended the deadline to form a unity government twice, most recently on November 7, 2019, and have twice failed to make any progress towards a unity government or adequate implementation of the peace agreement.

On November 12, President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar were given 100 days to resolve outstanding issues and form a transitional government by February.