South Sudan’s Political Parties Leadership Forum (PPLF) has claimed that the South Sudanese government obstructed a meeting with the IGAD peace mediation team, which sent representatives to Juba to facilitate intra-PPLF talks.
PPLF is an association of mostly opposition parties headed by SPLM-DC chairman Lam Akol, who is facing a leadership challenge from Martin Elia and Martin Tako.
Elia is a cabinet minister and Tako is a deputy minister, belonging to minor political parties aligned with the SPLM-Juba faction of Salva Kiir.
Neither wing of the PPLF participated at the last round of peace talks, after SPLM-Juba security personnel blocked Lam Akol’s delegation from traveling to Ethiopia and the Martin Tako delegation was sent home by mediators.
IGAD Special Envoy Lazaro Sumbeiywo disclosed to Radio Tamazuj in September that the mediation team would oversee a process within the PPLF whereby they would choose a unified delegation to participate at peace talks.
In a statement on Thursday, PPLF members associated with Lam Akol said that a meeting was scheduled to take place at 10:00 a.m. with the participation of both their side and the Kiir loyalists.
The meeting was to be facilitated by the IGAD Special Envoys’ Office’s chief of staff.
After the meeting was canceled, Lam Akol’s group accused the government of not allowing the meeting to take place and of seeking to coopt the PPLF by sending its own representatives to the peace talks claiming to represent PPLF.
Another source told Radio Tamazuj that the mediators did meet separately with the two wings of the PPLF, but canceled a planned joint meeting after it became clear that the pro-government side would not attend.
He said the purpose of the “selection meeting” was to choose delegates to participate in the IGAD talks.
File photo: Lam Akol
Related:
IGAD mediators ask Martin Tako to leave South Sudan peace talks (23 Sept.)