A planned meeting between parties to the revitalized peace agreement and the Deputy President of South Africa on the number of states and their boundaries has been postponed.
David Mabuza was supposed to meet opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar today before meeting President Salva Kiir and other stakeholders in a bid to break a deadlock over the number of states and their boundaries.
Determining the number of states and their boundaries are among the tasks that were meant to be completed within the pre-transitional period but so far, there is not agreement yet.
On Tuesday, a meeting between President Kiir and opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar in Juba ended without a break-through on the number and boundaries of states.
The two principals agreed to refer the matter to the Deputy President of South Africa who has been mediating between the parties.
But the Deputy spokesperson of the SPLM-IO said the meeting initially planned for Friday was rescheduled for after one week.
“We have been informed by the IGAD special envoy Ismail Wais that the meeting will take place after one week,” Manawa Peter said on Friday.
He says the opposition leader who has been in Juba for over a week will return to Khartoum in the following days before coming back to Juba for the planned meeting.
A political analyst on Thursday questioned the willingness of political leaders to compromise on the number of states and their boundaries, saying they want “somebody else to make the decision for them to blame later.”
But the SPLM-IO’s deputy spokesperson expressed optimism that the two leaders will agree on the number of states and boundaries when they meet with the South African Deputy President.