Dr. Lam turns down invitation to attend final meeting of ‘one-sided’ national dialogue conference

JUBA – Prominent South Sudanese politician and leader of the opposition National Democratic Movement (NDM), Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, has rejected an invitation by the National Dialogue Steering Committee to attend its final meeting, saying the process is on-sided that is sponsored by the regime in Juba.

In September, Angelo Beda, a co-chair of South Sudan’s National Dialogue Steering Committee wrote to Dr. Lam asking him to attend the final conference of the ND due to be held in the capital Juba.

“This is to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 28 September 2020 on the above subject. You will recall that on 14th December, 2016, President Salva Kiir Mayardit announced before the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) that a National Dialogue Conference will be held in Juba. The objectives of the exercise were set as ten points, on the top of which was to ‘end all forms of violence in the country’,” Dr. Lam said in a response letter extended to Sudans Post.

“He also stated that ‘the National Dialogue is placed within the framework of the Peace Agreement (ARCISS).’ Since then, the National Dialogue initiative petered out and was relaunched on the 26” of May 2017 when your Steering Committee became active in organizing meetings to fulfill that purpose. Whereas the concept of National Dialogue is one of the ways a country may choose to deal with the root causes of its problems, a credible dialogue cannot take place while the war is raging as was the case in our country before 12 September 2018.

“It can only be meaningful when the country is enjoying peace. That was the main reason why we distanced ourselves from it. Yet, the Steering Committee went ahead with meetings and conferences on the sub-national level. We are now being invited to attend its final conference, presumably to discuss the outcomes of the previous conferences of that one-sided government sponsored exercise.

“All the objectives spelled out in President Kiir’s speech before the TNLA, are superseded by the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) signed by all the stakeholders on 12 September 2018. It is the same stakeholders you are now inviting. The agreement laid the basis to ‘end all forms of violence in the country’.

“The other matters are related to the Constitution-making Process and issues to be discussed under Transitional Justice that are clearly dealt with under Chapters V and VI of R-ARCSS. Hence, these objectives can be achieved with the full and faithful implementation of the current peace agreement. On the basis of the above, the National Democratic Movement does not see any useful purpose to be served by the ‘South Sudan National Dialogue National Conference’.

“We should instead speed up the implementation of the relevant provisions of the R-ARCSS on the matter that are now behind schedule. Specifically, our attention should be focused on the holding of the workshop for the Parties to agree on the details of conducting the Constitution-making process (Article 6.7 of R-ARCSS). This will be followed by the actual preparations and convening of the Constitutional Conference (Articles 6.8 – 6.16 of R-ARCSS).

“This is the only inclusive political process the stakeholders have agreed on and nothing else should detract us from that course.”