A faction of the rebel group South Sudan United Front (SSUF) led by Gen. Paul Malong is adamant that the terms of the revitalised peace deal should be reopened.
African regional bloc IGAD has recently ruled out a renegotiation of the September 2018 peace agreement.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, spokesman for Malong's SSUF rebel movement, Sunday de John criticized the regional bloc for attaching preconditions to talks.
The IGAD special envoy to South Sudan Ismail Wais and Gen. Paul Malong are scheduled to meet in Nairobi, Kenya on March 11. The meeting is to discuss modalities for the rebel group’s participation in the peace process.
Sunday called on the regional bloc to help open talks on the revitalised peace deal. “Peace cannot be achieved if there is no dialogue in South Sudan,” he said.
The rebel official said the peace agreement signed by President Salva Kiir and several opposition groups last year is fatally flawed.
“The revitalised peace agreement has not addressed the root cause of the conflict. It focuses on positions only, so we want it to be reopened,” he said.
“IGAD has invited us for a meeting and at the same time is saying the peace agreement will not be reopened for negotiations, so how will we join it?” he asked.
Sunday further said his group wants to see a federal system of government introduced in South Sudan. He added that the current 32 states created by President Kiir will not end conflicts in the country.
“One of our demands is that the current leadership should be changed. We are going to meet IGAD soon and we will ask them again to reopen the agreement,” he said.
In November last year, the East African regional bloc warned that the non-signatory groups in South Sudan would "be categorized as spoilers of the peace process" if they reject peace.