Skip to main content

Steps toward civil peace in South Sudan




Two years ago the leaders of South Sudan had a disagreement, leading to one of them being dismissed from his post. One was the president and the other was the first vice president. Since then – 2013 – civil conflict took hold, fuelled by the proponents and dissenters of the political rivals. A peace agreement between the two leaders was reached in August 2015, in which the first vice president would be reinstated, and has yet to be enacted.

The president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit, announced on state news on Thursday February 11, 2016, that he would re-appoint his rival as first vice president (International New York Times, February 11, 2016). The first vice president was Riek Machar, who held the position from 2011 to 2013 (and formerly as second vice president of Southern Sudan before independence, from 2005-2011 under the transitional government). I attended the inaugural session of Parliament in 2005.

Mr. Kiir is from the Dinka ethnic group and Mr. Machar is a Nuer – however, they have worked together for a substantial amount of time (from 2005) before the disagreement. Mr. Machar has yet to accept the announcement and decree, and return to Juba, the capital of South Sudan. He is currently in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where the peace agreement was negotiated.

The disagreement was about the restructuring of regional states. The government, in December 2013, dissolved the 10 existing states and created 28 new ones. The question of state power became an issue of contention. Mr. Machar said it undermined the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, during the transitional government, on the formation of national unity.



MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The SudanCurse (2009).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing