Officials at the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Comission have expressed frustration with both the government and oppositon, saying both have violated the peace agreement signed last August.
Chairman of JMEC Festus Mogae has given a number of interviews in recent days saying that diplomats would be ready to work with First Vice President Taban Deng. After fighting in the capital of Juba in July, rebel leader Riek Machar fled the capital. He was controversially replaced as both the leader of the SPLM-IO party and as First Vice President by his former deputy, Deng.
Until now, JMEC has been silent on the issue of whether the disputed appointment is allowed under the peace deal. Sources inside JMEC say that the organization will not litigate who is the First Vice President of the country, but instead will work with Deng in the interest of peace.
“From day we have never accepted what happened (with Taban Deng being replaced as First Vice President) on the grounds that we didn’t have enough information on who has the powers to elect and dismiss,” one official told Radio Tamazuj.
Another said that both sides have repeatedly violated the country’s agreement, and JMEC’s previous statements on violations did not have any impact. Rather, JMEC officials say that they are compromising on important parts of the peace deal but do not have an option.
“It’s good that we have Taban and Salva now working together and promising us and the nation that they will move forward with the peace agreement,” Mogae told Al Jazeera. “For now, the people of South Sudan are worse off than before.”