JUBA – The workplace of South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar Teny has demanded a proper briefing from President Salva Kiir’s ruling SPLM faction on the main points of the lately signed peace settlement with the SPLM-IO Kitgwang faction led by General Simon Gatwech Dual.
Speaking to Sudans Post on Wednesday night, Machar’s Press Secretary Puok Both Baluang mentioned they discovered of the deal primarily by way of media reviews and a letter purportedly signed by Gatwech that circulated on social media.
He mentioned that the SPLM-IO, a key signatory to the revitalized peace settlement, has not acquired official communication concerning the settlement from the federal government.
“We have not been officially briefed as a party signatory to the [revitalized] agreement on that particular agreement,” he mentioned, noting that the delegation concerned within the negotiations didn’t embrace representatives from the transitional authorities, of which Machar is a component.
Baluang emphasised the necessity for transparency and readability from Kiir’s SPLM-IG relating to the settlement’s content material and its implications for the broader peace course of.
“We are still waiting for more briefing and clarification from the SPLM-IG to know about the content of that agreement. As for now, we only came to know about the agreement through the Sudanese delegation statement and the content of the agreement only through the letter that is alleged to have been produced by R-TGoNU,” he defined.
Baluang reiterated his group’s dedication to an inclusive peace course of in South Sudan, and referred to as on all non-signatory opposition teams, together with these aligned with the Tumaini Initiative, to hitch the revitalized peace settlement.
“All in all, we are, as SPLM-IO, for an inclusive peace in South Sudan, and we urge all the other oppositions groups that are non-signatories to the peace agreement and also to the Tumaini to join the peace process under the revitalized peace agreement,” he mentioned.
Baluang additionally raised issues concerning the proposed appointment of General Gatwech as deputy commander-in-chief of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), arguing that the 2018 peace settlement designates Machar as the only deputy to Kiir.
“Well what I was trying to say, the position of the deputy commander-in-chief, it is not indicated in the agreement. In the agreement we have his Excellency Dr. Riek Machar to be the deputy [president] according to the revitalized peace agreement,” Baluang said.
Baluang pressured that the SPLM-IO is awaiting a proper briefing from the SPLM-IG earlier than issuing a complete assertion on the settlement with Gatwech’s faction.
“So what I’m trying to say is that now we are waiting for more clarity from the SPLM-IG side to brief the other parties on the agreement that they have struck with General Gatwech Dual, and so we will have our formal and official statement regarding this agreement, but also I would like to reiterate that we are for a genuine peace, but the content of that deal, as a party signatory to the peace agreement, we have no knowledge about it until now,” he concluded.