The government will be formed in November with or without the opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar, President Salva Kiir has said.
President Kiir said if the leader of SPLM-IO is not willing to come back, he would form the government in November with other parties to the agreement.
Speaking at the peace prayers organized by the council of churches on Thursday in Juba, Kiir said the government must be formed in November.
“I want to promise you that in November, the government must be formed and if the IO doesn’t want the government to be formed the other political parties that signed the agreement will go ahead with SPLM and form that government,” President Kiir said.
The President told the opposition representative at the prayer to inform Dr. Machar about the formation of the R-TGoNU.
“I wish to inform my colleague here Henry to send my message to Dr. Riek Machar that all of us want him to be in Juba, even if he comes in October we don’t have any problem, he saw it when he came here nobody was against him,” Kiir said.
But a senior member of SPLM-IO said President Kiir should speak the language of peace in order to implement the agreement.
Speaking to Eye Radio this morning, Agok Makur said his party is committed to the peace agreement.
“We in the SPLM-IO under the leadership of Dr. Riek are committed to peace, and that our language, words, and thoughts is about peace, our talk is about peace, and also our body expressions to be peace,” the SPLM-IO official said.
Earlier, observers and members of the public, applauded the main signatories to the revitalized peace agreement, saying the face-to-face meeting is a significant step towards the implementation of a pre-transitional period before the establishment of a unity government in two months.
The peace parties are expected to set up a unity government in November.
Inked in September 2018, the peace accord is expected to end the suffering of the citizens who have borne the brunt of the 5-year conflict attributed to power wrangles between the two leaders.
The deal reinstates Dr. Machar as the first vice president.