The US Secretary of State warned yesterday that the United States government would question the legitimacy of any government that leads its people back into war and fails to "protect and serve all citizens," saying South Sudan's government has already neglected to do the latter.  

In a statement yesterday, the top US diplomat John Kerry said, "Legitimacy is not a presumed right of any government. It is conferred by the people, and it is sustained only by demonstrating leadership to protect and serve all citizens—responsibilities the government has neglected."

Kerry's statement came after South Sudanese President Salva Kiir arrived nearly two weeks late at peace talks in Addis Ababa, ahead of a deadline set by mediators for reaching a deal. No breakthroughs have been reported at the talks on the key leadership issues.

The statement is the first time the US has publicly raised the question of the legitimacy of the South Sudanese government at large.

US recognition of South Sudan as independent and sovereign dates to 2011. On the occasion of South Sudan's independence from Sudan, President Barack Obama declared, "the United States formally recognizes the Republic of South Sudan as a sovereign and independent state."

Kerry's statement suggests a shift in policy -- or at least rhetoric -- since his May 2014 meeting with Kiir in which he stressed the constitutional legitimacy of the government. Radio Tamazuj has previously reported that "the South Sudanese army purposefully accelerated offensive operations in the Upper Nile region in the days immediately following the meeting on 2 May between John Kerry and Salva Kiir."

Criticism of Riek Machar

The US statement did not suggest any support for the opposition led by Riek Machar. Instead, Kerry said the armed opposition has "likewise failed to choose peace or make the hard choices required of leaders."

"Both President Kiir and Riek Machar have promised time and again that they would negotiate a transitional government under the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) process, but have failed to make the compromises needed," said Kerry.

$1 billion

Separately, a US official announced on the State Department website last Saturday that the current civil war in South Sudan has cost the US government nearly $1 billion in humanitarian assistance. The official regretted that the US government is paying to save lives of South Sudanese while their country's own leaders remain committed to war rather than peace.

"As their people continue to suffer, government and opposition leaders have repeatedly failed to make the compromises needed to negotiate the transitional government that they have both agreed is the way forward," said the official, Assistant Secretary of State Anne C. Richard.

Kerry said yesterday, "Leaders can choose to do the hard work of implementing peace—or they can all too easily drift back into the nightmare of war. The choice is clear, and for the sake of all the people of South Sudan, I urge them to choose peace."

File photo: US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, 1 November 2013 (White House/Pete Souza) 

Related:

UK says Kiir reverses promise to attend peace talks (23 Feb.)