The Community of Sant’Egidio, which is mediating talks between the South Sudan government and holdout opposition groups, says it will not abandon the mediation process.
This comes a week after the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) suspended the talks with the Non-Signatories South Sudanese Oppositions Group (NSSSOG), which were brokered in Rome by the Community of Sant’Egidio, a Catholic association with ties to the Vatican.
In a letter dated November 21 and addressed to the Catholic Community of Sant’Egidio, Presidential Affairs Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the government “has suspended its participation in the Rome peace talks till further notice.”
The peace talks were scheduled to resume in Rome, Italy, on Monday, 28 November.
Negotiations between both sides began in 2019 but have failed to stop violence in some parts of the country, despite a ceasefire signed in January 2020.
“Sant’Egidio will never give up; we will continue for the stability of South Sudan. We will continue our efforts and efforts of everybody, not only the political leaders, for the possibility to make peace,” Paolo Impagliazzo, the secretary-general of the Community of Sant’Egidio, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday.
When asked about the reasons that led to the withdrawal of the government side from the peace talks, Impagliazzo said: “I really don’t know, I mean, there are probably security threats on the government, and that’s why they suspended the next round of talks. This is what we got from the government.”
The Sant’Egidio official said he plans to visit the capital Juba to meet the government to understand more about the reasons that led to the suspension of the talks.
“We are open to continue with the peace engagement with the government and the non-signatory groups. We want them to discuss among themselves; we are not putting pressure on the parties involved in this political negotiation. It is up to the parties to try to find a political settlement to their controversies,” he said.
The secretary-general of the Community of Sant’Egidio reiterated their commitment to bring the divergent views of the government and the opposition closer to restore peace and stability in South Sudan.