Riek Machar is proposing "The CPA Model" to resolve the conflict in South Sudan

Thursday, June 21, 2018 (PW) — The leadership of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) would like to affirm that the long anticipated face-to-face meeting between, President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar, was held late last night under the aegis of H.E. Abiy Ahmed Ali, the Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Chairman of IGAD. The meeting was cordial and the two leaders discussed the prospects for peace in broad terms.

The Chairman and Commander in Chief of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) gave his views on some of the challenges facing the peace process and proposed the solution should be to revisit the model used to achieve the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The CPA model allowed the warring parties to discuss amongst themselves what the problems and possible resolutions should be, with an IGAD Secretariat to record the areas of agreement between the parties. The current model, with its various workshops, though they are very informative, is unrealistic, as it is not for lack of technical experts that there is war in the country, nor will the workshops stop the war.

It is the contention of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) that there is no shortcut to peace. The best way to achieve lasting peace is to address the deep seated root causes to the conflict in the country and the Movement has requested for more time, as any honest approach to resolving this, apart from good will, requires time. The imposition of an agreement on the parties will not work and all the opposition groups have rejected the recent “Bridging” proposal as not reflecting any of our positions.

The Chairman and Commander in Chief of the SPLM/SPLA (IO), Dr. Riek Machar, conveyed our position that for any meaningful dialogue to take place, it should be within the context of a comprehensive political settlement; so that the guns can fall silent and a conducive environment for dialogue established. These are some of the points conveyed during the meeting with H.E. Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali, our comradely host and President Salva Kiir our partner in the peace process.
We are hopeful for a positive response.

CDE MABIOR GARANG DE MABIOR (CHAIRMAN)

SPLM NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR INFORMATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS.