Kiir urges Machar to ‘show flexibility and good will’ to Sudanese proposal

JUBA – President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Thursday appealed to his first deputy and leader of the main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/SPLA-IO) Dr. Riek Machar Teny to accept a proposal by the Sudanese government on divisions of positions within the unified army command.

The Sudanese government has served the parties to the revitalized peace agreement with a proposal to resolve the stalemate in the implementation process of the agreement after Machar’s SPLM-IO suspended its participation in security mechanisms over continued attacks against its positions in Unity and Upper Nile states.

President Salva Kiir also issued a republican decree last Friday allocating two positions of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) to the SPLM-IO. The South Sudanese head of state also allocated at least one more position in the South Sudan Police Service to the SPLM-IO.

But the SPLM-IO rejected the Kiir decision calling it ‘unilateral’ and a violation of the revitalized peace agreement which provides for a 50-50 ratio of the unified army command and called on President Kiir to revoke his decision.

In a statement on Thursday, the presidency accepted the Sudanese proposal whose details are yet to be made public, and urged the SPLM-IO to show flexibility and accept the proposal.

“The President wants to thank our Sudanese partners in peace for their proactive support to us in forwarding this proposal. Once again, the Sudanese leaders have demonstrated their commitment to regional stability,” the presidency statement extended to Sudans Post reads in part.

“With this decision, the SPLM-IO and SSOA should now show flexibility and good will to the Sudanese proposal, which will be presented to them this weekend, a basis for building a fully integrated security force to stabilize South Sudan, protect its borders, and fully implement the peace agreement,” the statement added.