A South Sudanese holdout opposition coalition has expressed its interest to participate in the ongoing political dialogue organized by the Sant’Egidio community in Rome, Italy.

South Sudan National Alliance for Democracy and Freedom Action (NADAFA) welcomed the community’s role in fostering the dialogue aimed at addressing root causes of South Sudan’s conflict.

The NADAFA is composed of People’s Democratic Movement (PDM), Workers Party of Upper Nile (WPU), Federal Democratic Party (FDP), National Salvation Movement (NSM), and South Sudan United National Front (SSUNF).

In a letter to Sant’Egidio on 18 January, NADAFA leader Hakim Dario said they welcome comprehensive talks on the root causes of conflict in South Sudan. He urged the Sant’Egidio community and all the parties to the political dialogue to prioritize the people and their rights.

“The alliance believes that the country needs an alternative People’s Transitional Federal Government of South Sudan NADAFA, based on power sharing between the peoples of Equatoria, Upper Nile and Bahr al Ghazal, which will repair the country’s broken social fabric through a new people-driven constitution making process for the country,” he stressed.

South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA), a coalition of opposition groups that did not join the 2018 peace deal, signed a truce agreement with the government of President Salva Kiir in Rome on 12 January.

This came following a meeting hosted and mediated by the Rome-based Sant’ Egidio Community.