South Sudan’s formal peace process facilitated by the East African Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) continues to be put on hold.
After an adjournment for ‘consultations,’ the peace negotiations were initially scheduled to resume on 16 October 2014. That start date was pushed back until 20 October at the earliest, Radio Tamazuj reported last week.
The talks have been postponed again until 27 October.
One reason for this is that IGAD leaders Prime Minister Hailemariam and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta are yet to meet with Salva Kiir, leader of one of South Sudan’s warring factions. This should take place before the next round of talks begins.
Ethiopia’s Hailemariam is guarantor of the 9 May ‘Agreement to Resolve the Crisis in South Sudan,’ which committed the SPLM-IO and SPLM-Juba faction leaders to an ‘inclusive’ political process leading toward a deal on transitional governance.
The two factions have now begun a separate set of meetings in Arusha, Tanzania, along with the SPLM-G10 faction, outside the auspices of IGAD. Civil society delegates, religious leaders, SPLM-DC and other political parties participating in the IGAD-led process are excluded from the meetings in Tanzania.
One political observer who preferred anonymity, speaking on Monday, expressed concern that unity talks among the three factions could lead to a return to “business as usual” at the expense of major reforms in the country.
Others, however, have expressed optimism at the Arusha initiative, including Professor Luka Biong Deng whose observations on the inter-factional dialogue were broadcast on Radio Tamazuj on Monday.
File photo: Delegates at a previous round of peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Related:
Kiir and Machar to meet in Tanzania (20 Oct.)