Dialogue deputy co-chair wants Machar included in peace process

[Elisabeth Janaina]

Dialogue deputy co-chair wants Machar included in peace process
File photo: Riek Machar
File photo: Riek Machar

South Sudan’s national dialogue deputy co-chair Gabriel Yoal Dok has
welcomed calls by regional circles to include rebel leader Riek Machar
in the next meeting for the peace process, which is aimed at
revitalizing the 2015 peace agreement.

“The issue of revitalization by IGAD countries is good, so we don’t
have any problem with if it will bring about peace in our country,”
the deputy co-chair said in an interview with Radio Tamazuj today.

Dok, a former opposition official allied to Machar, currently a
leading member of the SPLM-IO faction allied to Taban Deng, said
prominent opposition leaders are in talks with the national dialogue
committee in order to join the process.

“We want Machar to be part of the grassroots dialogue, regional
conferences and national conferences. If he [Machar] does want to
come, he can dispatch his representatives to participate in the
dialogue,” Dok said.

“We want Machar to part of all the processes, including the
revitalization. What we want is peace to prevail in the country
because we want people to speak out,” he added.

Dok, who is also a presidential adviser, stressed that the country’s
national dialogue should not focus on issues pertaining to power and
leadership, saying the dialogue process requires all South Sudanese to
develop home-grown solutions to the ongoing conflict.

He revealed that the national dialogue steering committee wants to
include all opposition leaders to ensure that South Sudan does remain
engulfed in civil war.

The elderly politician noted that the national dialogue committee also
plans to outline the key problems that need to be solved by all the
people of South Sudan.

The IGAD High Level Independent Experts meeting in Ethiopia last month
recommended that South Sudan's warring parties including Machar’s
SPLM-IO faction should hold a consultative meeting in Addis Ababa in
September to discuss the revitalization process.