It was a busy schedule coloured with higher expectations for white smoke in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, earlier this week.
The government delegation, comprising the Presidential Advisor on National Security Affairs, Tut Gatluak, and director-generals of the Internal Security Bureau, Military Intelligence, among others, held face-to-face talks with the group, Kit Gwang, in Khartoum on Tuesday.
This marked the second meeting aimed at ending the nearly six-month conflict between Dr Riek Machar-led SPLM/A-IO and Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual’s faction, which could roil the ongoing peace implementation in the country.
However, the negotiations have prompted questions about conformity to the power-sharing deal under the 2018 revitalised peace agreement, as well as the aspect of inclusivity.
According to an activist, the inclusivity aspect was another question to ask in the ongoing peace process between President Salva Kiir’s delegation and Gen. Simon Gatwech in Khartoum.
“I think it is the ruling party versus Kit-Gwang because if it is a government of national unity, other parties are supposed to be involved,” said Edmund Yakani, who is the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO).
“If it is the revitalised government of national unity, then I wish to see other parties involved.”
The Revitalised Government of National Unity comprises the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Government (SPLM-IG) of President Kiir, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) of Dr Machar, and the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA). Others include the Other Political Party (OPP) and the Former Detainees (FD).
Speaking to The City Review on Friday, Mr Yakani added “if [Kit-Gwang faction] is the international crisis of the SPLM/A-IO, the negotiation is supposed to be between the SPLM/A-IO under Dr Riek and the SPLM/A-IO under Kit-Gwang with the participation of other political parties that constitute what is called the government of national unity.”
In this sense, the CEPO boss argues that any attempt to alienate any member of the peace agreement would be counterproductive.
Power-sharing
Though the 2018 peace deal gives no more room for accommodation, the question of power-sharing provided under Chapter One of the peace agreement could be another perceived stumbling block the negotiating parties should figure out.
Under Chapter 1.16 of the responsibility sharing ratio, the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) shall have 55 per cent, the SPLM/A-IO shall be allocated 27, SSOA and FD shall have 10 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.
According to Mr Yakani, for the success of the Sudan peace negotiations, the government will have to consider sharing its ratio with the splinter group, or Dr Machar-led SPLM/A-IO offers them some seats to quell the conflict.
In a phone interview last week, Puok Both Baluang, Acting Press Secretary in the Office of the First Vice President, Dr Riek Machar, told The City Review that the SPLM/A-IO owes Gen. Gatwech nothing.
“The question we should ask ourselves is: where are they defecting to? This shows that they made an ill-fated decision, which is why they decided to defect,” he said.
“They are demanding something from a party that they have defected from. Where is the logic there? If they are demanding something after they announce their defection, they are supposed to get their demands from the party that they are negotiating with, ” Baluang said.
But for Yakani, if that is the case, the government shall bear the responsibility of accommodating Gen. Gatwech’s group.
“The government needs to give some seats for the Kit-Gwang group if they are to reach a deal. So in the concept of power-sharing, the Kit-Gwang has to have shares within the 55 per cent power allocated to the government, ” argued Yakani.
Following several defections that rendered positions within SPLM/A-IO vacant, including the seat of the deputy chairperson, the group had yet to find a replacement. And, should Kit-Gwang opt to rejoin Machar’s party, they could benefit from the empty seats.
While the progress is underway, a political analyst on Thursday cast doom on the prospect of the government-splinter talks in Sudan.
“That negotiation will end in vain; it will not go anywhere,” Prof Abraham Kuol Nyuon was quoted saying by The Dawn.
“You cannot bring people to the table who do not have problems with one another and expect them to negotiate something tangible.”