February 6th 2020 (Nyamilepedia) – Talks between South Sudan government and opposition groups aimed at resolving the number and boundaries of states have again hit deadlock over government refusal to calls to reduce the number of states, South African Vice President David Mabuza said.
Today, the government of President Salva Kiir and several opposition groups which are signatories to the revitalized peace agreement sat under the auspices of South African mediation to determine the number of states.
Speaking following the consultative meeting in Juba, Mabuza said he is going to table the issue before this week’s IGAD summit of the heads of state and government as well as to the African Union which is also expected to consult next week.
“We must consult IGAD, we must consult the AU. Fortunately, they have got a summit this weekend, so we are going to table the proposal and beyond that we come back and give them the feedback,” Mabuza said.
South Sudan information minister Michael Makuei said for his part that the government will be formed on February 21 and will take oath the following day. He said the government will not accept any other extension of the pre-transitional period.
“The opposition in a way or the other they are demanding further extension but we are saying no more extension. The people of South Sudan are fed up of extensions, so we need to establish the transitional government and then continue with the consultation process,” he said.
“The transitional unity government will be declared on February 21 and will take oath on 22 February,” he stressed.
“Without the outstanding issues being resolved, the SPLM-IO will not come into government because we walked through this path in 2016,” he said.
