South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
The opposition parties under the South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance (SSOMA) have floated a proposal of having a three- year transitional period led by President Salva Kiir with Riek Machar as one of the two Vice Presidents aimed at giving the two rivals chance to bow out of the political ring.
The parties under SSOMA who are behind the proposal include South Sudan United Front (SSUF) led by former SSPDF Chief of Staff Gen. Paul Malong Awan, and Real Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (R-SPLM) under Pagan Amum and Stephen Buoy Rolnyang, the leader of South Sudan People’s Movement and Mario Loku Thomas Jada, the head of NAS Revolutionary Command Council.
“We propose that the president be given three years in office to prepare for an honorable exit by simply not participating in the next presidential election, this gives him time to do what will salvage his image and something he can be remembered for in addition to his liberation credentials,” said SSOMA in a statement issued last week in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
“The whole political crisis in South Sudan is deeply rooted in leadership shortcomings which resulted in power struggle and violence. We would be dishonest if this peace process does not tackle this leadership challenge,” it said.
It noted that the current revitalized transitional government is bloated, adding that SSOMA proposes reducing the Vice Presidents from five to two vice presidents.
It further said that the other vice presidents would become advisors on the clusters they now supervise for a period of three years.
The government and parties under SSOMA have been holding peace talks since May 3, 2024 in Nairobi aimed at reaching peaceful settlement of the conflict in South Sudan.
The parties under SSOMA refused to sign the 2018 revitalized peace agreement. The peace talks being mediated by the Kenyan government present the last chance to integrate these parties into the 2018 peace agreement.
