Activist Edmond Yakani has confirmed that all major signatories to the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement have submitted their delegate lists ahead of two crucial phases of the national dialogue, set to begin tomorrow (Monday).
In a recorded audio shared to Standard Zone News (SZN), Yakani said the stakeholders who signed the 2018 agreement have reaffirmed their “sense of nationalism and political responsibility” by committing to the dialogue process, which aims to break the ongoing stalemate over the implementation of key provisions of the peace deal.
According to Yakani, the first phase a week-long consultative dialogue will run from Monday to Friday next week. It will bring together party delegates and stakeholders to identify priority agenda items and build consensus on the moderators who will guide the second phase.
Phase two, he said, will take place from 1–5 December, bringing parties and stakeholders into a joint dialogue to seek national consensus and renew political commitments toward resolving obstacles that have slowed or blocked implementation of the peace agreement.
Yakani confirmed that delegate lists have been received from SPLM-IG, including its allied political groups the SPLM-IO under the suspended First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, SSOA under Josephine Lagu, the OPP, and the Former Detainees.
These groups, he emphasized, constitute the primary signatories to the 2018 agreement.
He further stressed that the process will extend beyond the signatories, with plans to reach out to all registered political parties, as well as any groups that consider themselves splinters or emerging political entities. “We want to talk to every political establishment as an entity to generate national consensus,” he said.
Yakani cautioned that any political actor seeking to obstruct the dialogue will be publicly named as a spoiler and a profiteer of violence, stating that citizens deserve leaders committed to peace rather than those benefiting from conflict.
Reaffirming the stakeholders’ stance, Yakani said, “Dialogue is the only option for us to fix the ongoing political stalemate,” adding that the upcoming sessions will be open to the media and held at the South Sudan Council of Churches Conference Hall.
He concluded by assuring citizens that CEPO and partners will provide regular updates throughout next week’s consultative meetings.
