Mabior Garang, eldest son of late John Garang de Mabior, founder of the South Sudanese ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), said the opposition faction of the SPLM-IO led by former vice president turned opposition leader Riek Machar is committed to a genuine peace in the country, while criticizing the IGAD mediation.

In a press statement he issued on Wednesday, Mabior, who is the chairman of the SPLM-IO’s national committee for information and public relations, said the IGAD mediation is fundamentally flawed and until President Kiir is no longer a ‘mediator’ and at the same time a ‘party to the conflict’, little progress will be possible in South Sudan.

“The partial nature of the peace process is the reason the IGAD special envoy for South Sudan, Ismail Wais could meet people associated with the National Dialogue Committee of President Salva Kiir and fail to consult with the Chairman and Commander in Chief of the SPLM/SPLA (IO),” partly reads the statement.

The opposition official stressed that their rebel group is not an obstacle to peace in South Sudan, claiming that the current propaganda which is intended to portray the SPLM-IO faction as unreasonable, was a result of the contradiction, which makes the current government a party to the conflict, while having a seat in the mediation forum led by the East African regional bloc IGAD.

“The Movement would like to categorically reiterate its full commitment to the peace process and we are ready to engage in a transparent peace process. The SPLM/SPLA (IO) continues to believe that the ARCISS contains provisions which will radically transform South Sudan and address the root causes of the conflict,” Mabior said.

The East African Regional bloc IGAD has recently concluded its consultative meetings with all significant parties to the conflict in South Sudan before the upcoming revitalization forum.

But the IGAD special envoy to South Sudan, Ismail Wais said in a statement in Juba that rebel leader Riek Machar may not attend the revitalization
forum but he will be represented by his group.