South Sudan’s Rivals Sign Final Peace Deal
South Sudan’s conflicting parties on Sunday signed a final deal in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on power-sharing and security arrangements.
The deal, reached through talks brokered by the Sudanese government with a mandate by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development in Africa, was signed by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, major opposition leader Riek Machar and representatives of other South Sudanese opposition factions.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed said at the signing ceremony that “all the South Sudanese parties and political forces signed on the agreement on power-sharing and security arrangements in South Sudan.”
He commended the stances of all parties and their commitment to the cease-fire in South Sudan, even before the beginning of the talks, expecting that all the parties would be committed to the signed deal.
On July 25, the South Sudanese conflicting parties signed an initial deal of power-sharing and governance prior to the final document of the deal on Sunday.
The initial agreement stipulated that the South Sudanese president will continue to serve as President of Sudan during the transitional period, while the opposition leader will assume the position of First Vice President.
There will be four vice presidents from different political parties.
Under the agreement, the transitional cabinet would be composed of 35 ministers, from both the government and the opposition, including 20 ministers from the government, and nine from the Machar-led Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO).
The deal further stipulated a transitional national legislative body composed of 550 members, with 332 from the government, and 128 from the SPLM-IO.
South Sudan has been witnessing a civil war since December 2013, which has left about 10,000 dead and millions of others displaced.
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