The National Salvation Front (NAS), whose participation in the Rome Peace Initiative has previously been stopped by Juba, welcomes the government’s return, according to Suba Samuel, NAS spokeswoman.
Ahead of Pope Francis’s visit to Juba this week, the remaining rebel groups in South Sudan are applauding the government’s decision to pick up the Rome peace negotiations.
The political conversation with opposition organisations that did not ratify the 2018 peace agreement will resume, according to the minister for presidential affairs of South Sudan, who made the announcement last weekend. The Rome-based Community of Sant’ Egidio served as the mediator for the peace negotiations.
Pagan Amum, leader of the opposition group ‘The Real SPLM’ ‘told South Sudan In Focus that the decision to return to the Rome talks is good, but says he is suspicious about the government’s motivation.
“This statement lifting the suspension of the Rome peace talks is showing that the only reason they are lifting the restrictions is the visit of his holiness, the Pope to South Sudan. That means there was no reason to suspend the government participation in the Sant ‘Egidio community-mediated process last year,” Amum said.
In an effort to be included in the resurrected peace deal, a number of holdout groups grouped under the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance have been in discussions with the government.
The South Sudan United Front, led by General Paul Malong Awan, and the Real SPLM are all members of the Alliance. NAS is commanded by General Thomas Cirilo Swaka.
The National Salvation Front (NAS) spokeswoman Suba Samuel claims that the holdout organizations applaud the government’s new stance.
“If they have accepted to come back, let them come to Rome and hear what is the gist behind the roundtable conference,” Samuel told South Sudan in Focus.
When it claimed that NAS rebels had killed four people, including two Catholic nuns along the Juba-Nimule route, a charge that the NAS rejected, the interim government of national unity twice left the negotiations.
The South Sudan opposition party disputed the charge that it was buying time to get ready for war, which prompted the second boycott in November of last year. Presidential Affairs Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin made the claim.
In an effort to be included in the resurrected peace deal, holdout organisations unified under the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance have been in talks with the government.
The South Sudan United Front, headed by General Paul Malong Awan, the Real SPLM, led by Pagan Amum, and the NAS are all members of the Alliance.