Nhial Deng Nhial, the chief negotiator for the government of South Sudan, has pointed to numerous outstanding issues that remain to be addressed at South Sudan’s peace talks.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, Nhial disclosed that the contentious issues include the power-sharing between an executive president and non-executive prime minister, besides structure of a transitional government.
Nhial further said timeframe for implementation of a federal system of governance as well as security arrangements are still outstanding.
“Our brothers in the opposition are demanding two separate armies in one nation, but this one doesn’t work and it is not acceptable from our side,” he said.
He also confirmed that the government was notified by IGAD that the next round of talks has been delayed until after consultations by the SPLM-IO are completed at Pagak.
The agenda of the next round of peace talks will be on how power can be shared between the president and prime minister as well as structure of the executive arm at all levels, according to the head of the government delegation.
The former foreign minister also pointed to several subjects that have not been negotiated including the reconciliation and healing process and security sector reform. He asserted that all the outstanding issues between the warring SPLM factions will be talked about in the coming round of talks.