By Agencies
Juba: South Sudan president Salva Kirr has declined to attend IGAD talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which he was slated to attend with main opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar.
Marchar and his team, plus all South Sudan’s main opposition factions are set to meet in Addis Ababa next week to participate in talks designed by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to strengthen the implementation of the September 2018 peace agreement, signed between the warring parties.
The talks come after Kiir and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO) leader Dr. Riek Machar disagreed over ways to execute a power sharing deal. Sources reveal that Machar agreed to attend the meeting, but president Kiir decline to attend. He however assured IGAD that he will be represented by his delegation. Last week, Kiir asked Machar to go to Juba to form a transitional government as May 12, the dateline stipulated in the peace agreement, approaches. However, Machar refused, citing insecurity reasons.
Machar explained to Kiir that he cannot accept his call for the formation of a provisional government because, according to him, the formation of transitional government is the last thing, because implementation of peace and security is the main thing. However, speculation is high in South Sudan that Kiir’s government could be trying to repeat the 2016 scenario by attempting to bypass implementations of peace and security arrangements
