The Political Bureau of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) has reversed the political position taken by Minister of Information Michael Makuei that the 'Troika' countries of Norway, USA and the UK should not be involved in mediating negotiations to end South Sudan's civil war.

Acting SPLM Secretary-General Anne Itto reported the decision to the press in remarks after an extraordinary meeting of the ruling party organ yesterday in Juba. She said that the SPLM has agreed to expansion of the mediation team of the East African Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to include diplomats of other nations.

According to Itto, IGAD's mediation team would be rechristened 'IGAD Plus' and expand to include diplomats of Algeria, Nigeria, Chad, Rwanda, South Africa, China and the Troika, as well as representatives of the European Union, United Nations and African Union.

This mediation structure of at least 15 countries has not yet been formally announced by the existing team of IGAD mediators and the process of organizing an “IGAD Plus Summit” has been significantly delayed, according to an IGAD timetable for the process obtained by Radio Tamazuj last month.

Itto said yesterday, “Up to now not SPLM, not even the government has received any official communication as to which date this process of negotiation will start. But we now have information as to what IGAD Plus would look like in terms of the countries that would be participating.”

“We have all agreed that to us in SPLM peace is paramount. We are not going to say who comes and who doesn't. All those people who have been proposed, we welcome them... We will also talk to the Troika, we will talk to everybody because our biggest concern is peace,” the SPLM official said.

Itto was asked by a reporter directly about Information Minister Michael Makuei's 'categorical' rejection of the Troika involvement. The reporter asked whether the new members of the 'IGAD Plus' would be in direct talks or just observers.

She responded, “I am reporting to you a decision of the Political Bureau and we are saying we have accepted the members as proposed and what we are going to do is to do as much information to those who are going to be mediators so that they are fair and they are knowledgeable and they are contributing towards peace rather than confusing themselves and eventually ourselves.”

Makuei had said in an interview with Radio Tamazuj on 12 March that the mediation should consist only of African countries, saying “Troika are not Africans. We are in search of an African solution.”

The decision by the Political Bureau apparently reversing this position was made at an extraordinary meeting called by the Deputy Chairman James Wani Igga. The party chairman President Salva Kiir was not present at the meeting as he was visiting Turkey at the time.

File photo: Minister of Information and Broadcasting Michael Makuei Lueth

Related coverage:

South Sudan govt doesn’t want Troika in mediation (12 March)