South Sudan: Kiir Calls For Interim Government

May 07, 2014(Nyamilepedia) — Salva Kiir has expressed his willingness to form an interim government with the armed opposition, led by Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the first vice president. Kiir said, while meeting Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary general, that he is willing to form a government with Machar to end the conflict.

The president has given his delegation in Addis Ababa the mandates to negotiate matter related to the interim government.

“The president has accepted that the government delegation at talks [in Addis Ababa] go ahead with all the discussions, including the interim arrangements,” a top aide said .

A top aide believes that the president is willing to bring peace and end the conflict as pressure mounts from the international community.

“He wants this conflict to be brought to an end so that a new page is opened, if the formation of the interim administration with Riek and his group can bring peace and stability to the country,” he added.

A source within the circle of Salva Kiir has also confirmed the report.

“He (Kiir) had accepted the formation of transitional government in these meetings and has already authorised the delegation at the negotiation to go ahead with all the discussions, including the interim arrangements,” the presidential aide said.

Negotiation in Good Faith

Kiir believes that it is time to bring peace so that the people could return homes although most homes in greater Upper Nile states are burnt to ashes.

“The priority now is to bring peace so that our people return to their homes. With our friends and the international community, we will work together to remove any obstacle to end this conflict. Our delegation at the peace talks has been given full mandate to negotiate in good faith so that they come with peace,” Kiir remarked on Tuesday.
“The priority of the government now is to stop this unnecessary war so that the people could return to their homes. The return of the people who have been affected by this conflict to their homes now is one of the main objectives and focus of the negotiation,” Kiir reiterated.

The president acknowledged the serious consequences that are looming if the war continues, one of the important calls from the concerned groups.

“This is because we feel there would be serious disaster if we do not allow our people to cultivate now,” he added.

President Kiir reaffirms his readiness to meet Dr. Machar face to face in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

“I have assured His Excellency [Ban Ki-Moon] that I am ready now to travel to Addis Ababa, to go and meet with Riek Machar, if he will accept to meet me,” he said.

Mending Relations with UNMISS

The president has acknowledged the work of UNMISS in the country, despite several accusations and anti-UN protests in the capitals.

“The period we have spent with UNMISS under the leadership of Hilde F. Johnson was a fruitful time,” Kiir said.

Kiir also noted the ups and downs in their shaky bilateral relations, however, he  believes that they can be corrected.

“[She] has been working with us hand in hand and whatever happened during our crisis, these were misunderstandings but (there is) nothing that happens in human life that cannot be corrected,” he added.

Ban reaffirms that the UN will continue its work to serve the displaced people until peace returns to the country.

“I visited displaced persons …The United Nations will continue to help them so that they will be able to return to their homes as soon as possible,” he said. “For that to be possible there should be peace and security,” Ban said on Tuesday.

“The United Nations is behind the people of South Sudan, and that is why I am here,” he said.

The Secretary General visited the country, after John Kerry, the US secretary of state to persuade the warring parties to bring peace in the new nation. Kerry left the country last week with promises that are yet to materialize.

Both Machar and Kiir have accepted to meet face to face this Friday, however, military offensives continue at multiple fronts in the country.

This would be the first time Juba openly express willingness to share power with the opposition, made up mostly up of his former cabinets and retired generals. The president fired over 170 military generals in 2013, dissolved the whole cabinet and the ruling party, SPLM, as the country heads to its first election.

Political differences emerge within the SPLM after the party fails to peacefully resolve political differences among the politburo members. Majority of the politburo members were arrested and accused of treason in December.

While the party’s SG, Pagan Amum and his 4 colleagues remain under house arrest in Juba and Dr. Machar at the front line, forming an interim government may prolong.

Dr. Riek believes that an interim government should come after reforming the country, with a new constitution, federal states among others.