June 11th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – The leader of the Federal Democratic Party (FDP), Gabriel Changson Lew Chang, will lead a nine-member team of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for peace consultation called upon by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) last week.
On Thursday, the IGAD mediation invited the nine opposition groups that make up the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) for “an Inter-linked and Intensified Consultative Conference” ahead of the expected late June meeting between South Sudan President, Salva Kiir, and rebel leader Riek Machar.
In a statement extended to the Nyamilepedia on Monday, the spokesman of the Federal Democratic Party (FDP) Deng Vanag, the leader of the group who is also the interim Chairman of the Opposition Alliance will lead, on Tuesday, a nine-member delegation of the Alliance to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa where peace talks have been ongoing since 2014.
“On Tuesday, 12th June nine leaders of SSOA alongside Honorable Gabriel Changson Chang as an interim Chairman will head for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The mission is to attend an Inter-linked and Intensified Consultative Conference, IICC under the auspices of the IGAD mediating team,” the statement said.
The Opposition Alliance is the first of the many armed and non-armed groups to be invited for consultation by the regional body before the government, SPLM/A-IO and other political entities including the SPLM-FDs could be invited.
The statement stressed the need for compromise saying the upcoming round of talks is the crucial phase of the High-Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) which the group said requires a genuine statesmanship.
“The upcoming series of consultations marks the crucial phase of High Level Revitalization Forum, HLRF which requires genuine statesmanship, but without compromising popular demands for democratic reforms pertaining to the good of the country than that of an individual,” it said.
The meeting which is due for mid June aims to squeeze some group’s compromises out of hard-line positions previously put forward by various political entities with the aim to bridge the gaps and hopefully reach a final political settlement to the five-year devastating civil war.
