Ethiopian Prime Minster Dr. Abiy Ahmed jetted to Juba on Monday to meet President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar on the recent standoff between the main parties to the September 2018 peace deal.
Addressing the media jointly after the meeting, the two ministers of foreign affairs of Ethiopia and South Sudan said the leaders discussed the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement and bilateral ties.
“…they held a meeting on bilateral matters with regional dimension, including the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement,” said Deng Dau Malek, South Sudan acting minster of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. “We are discussing the current situation we are in, in South Sudan”
For his part, Ethiopian Minster of Foreign Affairs Mesganu Arega said the two leaders discussed the importance of keeping peace and stability within the region and especially in South Sudan.
He stated that the Ethiopian government is committed to seeing peace in South Sudan.
“Ethiopia plays a particular importance [role] to the peace and stability of South Sudan and stands committed to the peaceful resolution of issues.” Arega stated
Recently, President Kiir and Dr. Machar engaged in political standoff over the dismissal of Angelina Teny, who is a wife to Dr Riek, and the swapping of defense and interior ministries – a move the opposition party SPLM-IO led by Dr. Riek rejected.
On Friday, Kiir and Machar discussed the issues, but the meeting reached stalemate.
The current political dilemma emerged just 8 days after the extension of the transitional period of the roadmap.
The roadmap was developed to provide time-bound guidance on the implementation of outstanding provisions that are critical to the conduct of peaceful and democratic elections at the end of the transitional period.
