Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 22:46:42 +0100
South Sudan's Machar Says Power-Share 'Hard Sell' for Rebels
By William Davison Nov 12, 2014 12:20 PM GMT+0100
South Sudanese rebel leader <http://topics.bloomberg.com/riek-machar/> Riek
Machar said it will be a "hard sell" to convince his allies to back a plan
to end almost 11 months of civil war by sharing power with President Salva
Kiir.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a bloc of East African
nations, gave the rebels and the government 15 days to finalize an accord at
a leaders' summit that ended Nov. 7 in
<http://topics.bloomberg.com/ethiopia/> Ethiopia. Machar said he may need
the rest of the month to see if other rebel commanders accept the deal that
allows Kiir to remain president for a 30-month interim period.
"It's a hard sell -- it's not easy," Machar, 61, said in an interview
yesterday in the Ethiopian capital,
<http://topics.bloomberg.com/addis-ababa/> Addis Ababa. "The choices are
hard: it's either continuation of war, or making compromises, so they will
decide."
Conflict erupted in December in the oil-producing country when a power
struggle within the ruling party turned violent. After Kiir arrested rivals
for allegedly plotting a coup and ethnic Nuer accused soldiers loyal to the
president of targeting them, commanders rebelled in three states.
Machar, Kiir's former vice president and a Nuer, fled the capital, Juba, and
became head of the insurgent forces. Thousands of people have died and
almost 2 million have been driven from their homes, according to the
<http://topics.bloomberg.com/united-nations/> United Nations.
Fighting has resumed in recent weeks in Upper Nile, Jonglei and Unity states
as seasonal rains have eased, intensifying UN concern that there may be
further casualties and a famine.
Presidential Powers
Mediators said the two sides agreed on the general scope of presidential
powers, a new position of prime minister and their joint responsibilities
during the transition at the latest Addis Ababa meeting.
Under the deal Machar proposed the president can only appoint ministers with
the premier's consent, the prime minister commands rebel forces until the
army's reintegration, and they jointly decide who will be state governors.
The government hasn't agreed to share presidential powers with a prime
minister and has suggested the premier mainly helps devise and implement
policy, Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said.
"These are the agreed powers but the executive powers he is looking for are
not there," Lueth said today by phone from Juba. "All this is
disinformation."
While the government is pushing to have a vice president and multiple deputy
premiers, rebels want only a president and prime minister, Machar said.
Renewed Pledge
<http://topics.bloomberg.com/south-sudan/> South Sudan, the world's newest
nation after seceding from <http://topics.bloomberg.com/sudan/> Sudan in
2011, has sub-Saharan <http://topics.bloomberg.com/africa/> Africa's
largest oil reserves after Nigeria and
<http://topics.bloomberg.com/angola/> Angola, according to
<http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/BP/:LN> BP Plc. (BP/) The government relies
on oil production to generate almost all of its revenue. Output has fallen
by at least a third to about 160,000 barrels per day since fighting began.
Both sides have accused the other of attacks even after a renewed pledge on
Nov. 7 to cease hostilities. IGAD said rebels committed violations three
times between Aug. 22 and Nov. 7, as had government forces, including this
month in Upper Nile and Jonglei states.
The parties on Nov. 9 committed to a step-by-step plan to implement the
cease-fire with measures such as withdrawing forces and reporting troop
positions. Rebel forces have been preparing for war in response to
government arms purchases and mobilization, Machar said.
Machar criticized IGAD's plan to send more troops into South Sudan to
prevent fighting if the <http://topics.bloomberg.com/peace-process/> peace
process stalls again, saying it's inappropriate for a neutral mediator and
would have a similarly destabilizing effect to
<http://topics.bloomberg.com/uganda/> Uganda's intervention in December.
"That threat is in the end regionalizing the conflict," he said. "It's not
well thought out because what does it mean? Is it fighting the government in
Juba? Fighting the rebels?"
<http://www.bloomberg.com/photo/south-sudanese-rebel-leader-riek-machar-/-ix
Kw7H3wSy8s.html>
http://www.bloomberg.com/image/iAga_PoKp_iM.jpgPhotographer: Tony
Karumba/AFP via Getty Images
South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar said, "The choices are hard: it's
either continuation of war, or making compromises, so they will decide."
(image/jpeg attachment: image001.jpg)