South Sudan’s warring parties failed to form a transitional government by the Friday deadline set by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), which is overseeing implementation of the peace deal.

SPLM-IO head of the advance team in Juba, Taban Deng Gai, said they will never change their position and accept the 28 states established unilaterally by Salva Kiir because the peace deal talks of ten states only.

Taban said JMEC should decide on the dispute over the creation of more states if the two sides fail to agree.

“The general public know very well that the agreement was signed base on 10 states, so we are committed to this, but in case of any dispute, we will refer it to JMEC," he said.  

SPLM-IO spokesperson Mabior Garang de Mabior criticized hardliners from President Kiirs’ government for sticking to the 28 states plan.

Presidential press secretary Ateny Wek Ateny said the reason they missed the deadline is because JMEC didn't give them enough time for constitution making. Kiir signed the peace deal five months ago. Ateny said the new government may form by late February.

When asked about the issue of 28 states, Ateny said they will not reverse the decision. He pointed out that will only discuss the matter with the opposition group in an attempt to overcome the issue.

“We will talk with our brothers in the opposition to accept the 28 states, even the opposition divided South Sudan into 21 states, so we can negotiate on the number of states,” he said.