South Sudan’s parties and stakeholders have met and selected representatives to take the lead in the intra-South Sudanese peace talks in Addis Ababa today.

The parties selected two delegates and the stakeholders selected one delegate. Faith-based leaders were tasked to moderate and lead the secretariat for the consultation process.

The delegates resolved that the intra-South Sudanese consultations would focus on finding solutions to all contentious issues in Chapter 1 and 2.

The IGAD Special Envoy to South Sudan, Ismail Wise had agreed to give the faith-based leaders more time to engage the parties in the intra-South Sudanese today and then report any progress made to the IGAD mediation.

The formula adopted for the intra-South Sudanese consultations is that each party would select 9 representatives divided as follows

•  3 representatives for leadership committee
•  3 representatives for governance committee
•  3 representatives for security committee

Mr. Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of CEPO, welcomed the statements made during the opening session on Friday and urged the South Sudanese parties to take the peace process serious.

“The speeches were motivating and sending messages of hope. The messages on holding violators of the peace accountability and urging the parties for compromises are serious and remarkable,” he said.