September 11th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by the country’s former First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon threatened on Monday that it will snub the peace deal which is set to be signed Wednesday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa if their reservations are not addressed by the IGAD summit.
South Sudan’s warring parties are in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa ahead of the IGAD summit of the heads of state and governments which will decide on the fare of the pending issues.
SPLM-IO Dr. Riek Machar is in the Ethiopian capital after leaving the Sudanese capital Khartoum early this morning to prepare for signing ceremony of the revitalized peace agreement.
President Salva Kiir is also expected to travel to the neighboring state on Wednesday to sign the agreement.
In an exclusive interview with the Nyamilepedia on Monday, the SPLM-IO director of information and public relations Puok Both Baluang said they will not sign an agreement that is a recipe for future conflict.
“Yes we will not sign the revitalized deal because the four points of our reservations are the core of the agreement because without these four points, the agreement will not be strong enough to implement,” he said.
While reiterating the commitment of the SPLM-IO to the IGAD-led peace process, the official said they only want an agreement that will be a recipe for future civil war.
“We only want an agreement that is genuine which is not a recipe for future war in South Sudan,” he said adding “it is very important for the IGAD to addresses these issues.”
Hopes to address the four points of reservations
The outspoken SPLM-IO official said they hope the IGAD summit will address their concerns which were also raised by the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA).
“We hope the that the four points of the SPLM-IO and SSOA will be addressed by the summit,” he said.
He added that the four points includes the the decision making mechanism in the South Sudan Presidency, Council of Ministers, parliament and the local level, the control over foreign troops that are also said to be deployed in the country, the permanent constitution-making process and the number of the states.
He said they want the foreign troops to be deployed under the cover of the RPF and not under direct control of deploying countries.
“We want the these forces to be under the cover of the RPF and not the direct control of Uganda and Sudan,” he said.
