October 19th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s main armed opposition group SPLM-IO has asked the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to instead be a part of the solution rather than the problem.
The IGAD is the regional bloc which brokered the revitalized peace agreement signed in 2018 by South Sudan government and opposition groups including the SPLM-IO led by Dr. Riek Machar which is a main signatory.
Manawa Peter Gatkuoth, a senior member of the Machar-led movement said on Thursday that it will not be a part of the government Kiir says he will form on November 12 because a dispute on the number of states has not been settled.
“Our position is that if the outstanding issues on the security arrangements (that is the training and deployment of the unified 83,000 organized forces) and the political decision on the number of states and its boundaries is not resolved, we won’t be party,” Gatkouth, who is the the SPLM-IO deputy chairperson for National Committee for Information said.
“We are asking all the parties who are our peace partners to commit fully to the implementation of all the provisions of the R-ARCSS [Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan] as well,” stressed Gatkouth.
