JUBA – Prominent South Sudan politician and National Democratic Movement (NDM) leader, Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, has said ongoing South Sudan National Dialogue is an attempt by the elites in Juba to sneak out of the most controversial issues aiming at imposing one view-point, apparently, of the society.
South Sudan’s National Dialogue was decreed by President Salva Kiir Mayardit in December 2016, five months after the collapse of a 2015 peace agreement following the infamous deadly July 2016 fighting in which SPLM-IO leader and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar was dislodged from the capital Juba.
Based on a televised address on December 14, 2016, President Salva Kiir said the National Dialogue would aim at ending “all forms of violence in the country”. Kiir also added that the process is “is placed within the framework of the Peace Agreement (ARCISS).’’
Since then, several prominent opposition leaders including Dr. Lam who had resigned in August 2016 as the country’s agriculture minister, as well as Machar, have stayed out of the National Dialogue and preferred a regional brokered peace talks which would never take place until November 2017.
In an opinion article published on Sudans Post on Monday, the prominent opposition leader criticized the National Dialogue, saying it is an attempt by the regime in Juba to get out of all the controversial issues that has engulfed the nation since the onset of the civil war in December 2013.
“The people of South Sudan will not be taken in. They will see the Juba meeting for what it really is: a futile attempt to impose one view-point on our people and sneak through the backdoor controversial issues that were at the centre of conflict in the country,” Dr. Lam said.
He went on to explain: “Whereas the concept of National Dialogue is one of the ways a country can choose to deal with the root causes of its problems, a credible dialogue cannot take place while the war is raging as was the case in South Sudan when it was announced.
“It can only be meaningful when the country is enjoying peace. In fact, the National Dialogue was announced with the onset of the government’s dry season military offensive in December 2016 and relaunched together with a unilateral ceasefire declaration at the end of that military campaign in May 2017.
“Therefore, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that it was intended to gain military advantage on the ground while hoodwinking the world into believing that the government was seriously pursuing peace.
“Furthermore, All the objectives spelled out in President Kiir’s speech before the TNLA, except “to end all forms of violence in the country”, are a mixture of matters related to the Constitution Making Process and issues to be discussed under Transitional Justice that are clearly dealt with under Chapters V and VI of ARCISS.
“Hence, these objectives could have been achieved with the full and faithful implementation of the peace agreement which he had vowed not to implement. In this context, it was obvious that the National Dialogue was meant to sidestep or replace ARCISS.
“The noises we hear from inside that conference today tend to suggest, if not confirm, that this “National Dialogue” is a substitute for R-ARCSS and its resolutions are final and ready for implementation.”
