South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit has maintained his position to form a revitalized government of national unity as planned on November 12.
Kiir was addressing national parliamentarians at the opening of the second session in Juba on Tuesday under the theme ‘Moving forward in the spirit of Peace, Unity, and Nation-building’.
He said all other signatories to the peace agreement are for the formation except SPLM-IO who are opposed to the formation of a unity government as scheduled.
“The government, the Former Detainees(FDS) South Sudan Opposition Alliance(SSOA) and other political parties(OPP) are willing to form the government of national unity on November 12 except the SPLA-IO. I have consistently reiterated my position to form the unity government as agreed upon on November 12, 2019,” he said.
President Kiir in the past few days has been echoing the same message at different national functions, ignoring calls by the opposition SPLM-IO and National Democratic Movement to extend the pre-transitional period to allow the implementation of key pending tasks.
The key outstanding issues include the creation of unified forces, deployment of soldiers meant to protect top government officials, agreeing on the number of states and drawing internal boundaries.
There is also growing international pressure for the parties to respect the November 12 deadline and form a unity government.
Riek Machar, leader of the SPLM-IO has stated that until security arrangements are implemented and parties reach an agreement on the number of states and their boundaries, they will not be part of such a government.
The two leaders are expected to meet in Kampala, Uganda on 7th, ahead of a planned IGAD summit for all signatories on 8th November 2019 to discuss a way forward on the pending tasks in the implementation and formation of a unity government.