Direct negotiating sessions among the South Sudanese warring parties and other stakeholders continued for a third day on Thursday and are expected to continue on Friday.

The talks are hosted in Bahir Dar in Ethiopia under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Multiple sources including South Sudan’s Minister of Information Michael Makuei confirmed to Radio Tamazuj the start of the direct talks on Tuesday, 23 September, one day after all parties accepted a single text as the basis for the talks, the “First Draft of the Text Arising from the 25 August Protocol and Stakeholders’ Positions.”

A member of the religious leaders’ delegation Bishop Enock Tombe told Radio Tamazuj the same day that the negotiations would be carried out within a single negotiating committee of 11 people.

He said this committee comprises three delegates of the government, three of SPLM-IO, three of SPLM-Leaders, one of civil society, and one of the religious leaders.

No members of the ‘Political Parties’ delegation (PPLF) have been included after the South Sudanese government blocked them from traveling from Juba to Ethiopia.

According to another source speaking on Wednesday, the negotiators have discussed South Sudan’s current system of governance. The parties are reported to have agreed in principle on transitioning the country toward a federal system of governance, though the particulars of this are yet to be worked out. 

Two special envoys appointed by IGAD are leading the mediation of the talks, retired general Lazaro Sumbeiywo of Kenya and former foreign minister Seyoum Mesfin of Ethiopia.

A third IGAD envoy, former Sudanese head of military intelligence Mohamed al-Dabi, has been absent from the negotiations this week after attending the opening session on Monday.

Asked about the absence of the Sudanese government representative, Kenyan envoy Lazaro Sumbeiywo downplayed it, telling Radio Tamazuj, “It’s only that our brother General Al Dabi is not feeling well, and therefore is not with us here. He has gone to have himself checked, but he is okay, it is not something serious.”

Meanwhile, an opposition source said that the negotiators today (Thursday) discussed the positions of president and prime minister. The latter position does not exist in South Sudan’s constitution but the IGAD Heads of State resolved last month that it should be created and filled by a nominee of SPLM-IO.

The opposition source said that the government now prefers the creation of not only the prime minister position but also the position of Second Vice President – a claim that is yet to be confirmed by either the government delegation or the mediation.

SPLM-IO oppose the creation of this second vice presidential position, according to the same source.

Photo: Members of the government delegation at the opening of current round of talks on 22 September 2014 (IGAD)

Related: South Sudan negotiators accept IGAD document as basis for talks (22 Sept.)

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