Progress at Sudan peace talks in Juba

The Sudanese government and the armed movements reached an agreement yesterday on the future system of governance at the Juba peace negotiations.

Mohamed El Taayshi, Sovereign Council member and spokesman for the government delegation, reported in a press statement yesterday evening that it has been agreed to return to the federal provincial system.

The two parties also agreed to discuss this matter further at a separate conference to be held within six months after signing the peace agreement.

The new federal system will be implemented seven months after signing the final peace agreement.

Stringent methodology

The South Sudanese mediation team has decided to put a new, stringent methodology for the peace negotiations in place in order to deal with all remaining issues within a month.

“We are now discussing all issues at the same time”, said Dhieu Mathok, member of the mediation team.

After completing the negotiations on power-sharing, Mathok expressed his hope that a final accord on the Darfur track will be reached within the specified four days. He explained that the final text about compensation for the victims in Darfur is now under review.

The mediator added that negotiations on the Two Areas (South Kordofan and Blue Nile state) have almost been completed as well. Details related to economic issues, the return of displaced within the state, and the states’ share of the national revenues still have to be agreed on.

Joint meeting

The progress of the peace talks was also discussed in the joint extraordinary meeting of the Sovereign Council, the Council of Ministers and the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) yesterday.

After discussing the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok that took place on Monday morning, the joint meeting talked about the need to accelerate the Juba peace process.

FFC leading member Ibrahim El Sheikh commented in a press statement after the meeting that appointing civilian governors and members of the Legislative Council should be discussed between the FFC and the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebel alliance “in a calm manner”.

“There is no need to connect changes in the governments of the states to the peace process,” he said. “The paths of peace and change can run parallel.”

El Sheikh further indicated that the SRF can be represented in the Central Council of the Forces for Freedom and Change as an independent entity, similar to the other entities.

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