The Deputy Chairperson for the South Sudan Civil Society Alliance, Dabek Mabior has called upon the mediating team at the Nairobi peace talks to consider and reconcile views raised by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO).

“The logic of coming with a new agreement will create conflict, we call upon the chief mediator of the Tumaini initiative for South Sudan to reconsider the concerns raises by SPLM-IO and to reconcile the views from different parties,” said Mabior on Thursday in an interview.

On Wednesday, the Political Bureau for the SPLM-IO rejected the Tumaini initiative for coming up with institutions that will run parallel or replace the existing institutions under the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.  

Mabior proposed that the details of the Tumaini deal be integrated into the 2018 revitalized peace agreement instead of coming up with a separate agreement.

“I think the lead mediation team in the Nairobi peace talks should not insist to undermine and ignore the R-ARCSS, we do believe that peace is a long process, so the Tumaini initiative for South Sudan should build up the R-ARCSS,” he said.

Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director for Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), said that the Tumaini peace initiative will be treated as an annex to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.

“With regard to the stand point of where we are with the Tumaini initiative, there is fear of opening up a window for responsibility sharing but the restructuring is strengthening institutions that are assigned to South Sudanese actors,” said Yakani.

The talks between the transitional unity government and the hold-out opposition parties which never signed the 2018 revitalized peace agreement commenced on May 3 in Nairobi.

 The opposition parties at the talks include Real SPLM led by Pagan Amum, the former Secretary General of SPLM and South Sudan United Front led by Paul Malong, the former Chief of Staff of the South Sudan People’s Defense Force (SSPDF).