New South Sudan Government To be Formed In 90 Days

By Amuya Lydia Omech

Entebbe, Uganda: South Sudan’s two rival leaders, President Salva Kiir and main armed opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar, have agreed to extend the pre-transitional period for three months (90 days), according to a communique issued from Entebbe on Thursday evening.

The two South Sudanese leaders were meeting in Entebbe under the auspices of the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Sudan’s leader of the Sovereignty Council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The communique which said the meeting “was held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere,” said the leaders concluded that the critical pre-transitional tasks are not in place and that the government could not be formed on November 12^th.

“The meeting noted the incomplete critical tasks related to the security arrangements and governance, including the formation of a revitalized transitional government of national unity,” the communique said.

“In view of the above, the meeting agreed to extend the pre-transitional period for one hundred (100) days effective from the 12^th November 2019,” the communique added.

It further said the two leaders agreed to “review progress after fifty (50) days from that date, and a report be submitted to the Heads of State and the Parties.”

“The parties agreed to establish a mechanism from the Guarantors and the Parties to supervise the implementation of the critical tasks.”

It further urged the regional bloc, IGAD, to determine Machar’s status during the 3-month pre-transitional period.

“During this period, the four IGAD countries represented in the meeting agreed to request IGAD to address the status of Dr. Riek Machar,” the statement said.

“The leaders urged the international community to continue supporting the implementation of the R- ARCSS,” it added.