Opposition groups in South Sudan are said to have rejected a proposed peace deal in the country geared at ending the civil war that has marred the newest nation in Africa. The sides met in Addis Ababa this week in a renewed attempt to end South Sudan’s civil war, which has driven more than four million people from their homes and left an estimated seven million in need of humanitarian aid.
Opposition groups, including the SPLM-IO and the South Sudan Opposition Alliance, say the proposal from the East African development bloc, IGAD, does not address the root causes of the South Sudan conflict. They also argue it gives the current government, run by President Salva Kiir, far more positions in a future transitional government.
The opposition says that the proposed deal only returns the power they had fought for hard back to the government and as such in the entirety not addressing the cause of the civil war. The groups reject the proposed agreement because it has no provisions for transforming South Sudan into a democratic country.
IGAD, on the other hand, has maintained that the deal identifies key issues that both sides have common ground on and as such the two side shouldn’t dismiss it all together should be the first step in establishing a deal that ends the war that has been experienced since 2013.
The second phase of the talks, called the High-Level Revitalization Forum, ended Wednesday.
