The inter-party dialogue in South Sudan is set to resume in Juba on November 9, 2026. SPLM Secretary-General Akol Paul Kordit met with senior party officials and representatives of other political groups earlier in the week to prepare for the resumption of the dialogue. The meeting agreed that the plenary session would discuss and finalise proposed resolutions and a joint communiqué.
The dialogue, launched by President Salva Kiir on September 24, 2026, brings together Juba-based political parties and stakeholders to discuss preparations for South Sudan's first general elections since independence in 2011. At the conclusion of the two-week dialogue last month, Senior Presidential Envoy Adut Salva Kiir reiterated the government's position that elections should proceed as scheduled, saying further extensions were not open to negotiation.
However, some parties criticised the process, arguing that it was controlled by the government and could not address broader political grievances while former First Vice-President Riek Machar remained in detention and on trial. At the opening of the dialogue, President Kiir warned political parties against using the discussions to renegotiate the electoral timetable.
Political analyst and government critic Abraham Awolich said the two-week dialogue had failed to reach a consensus last month because the government insisted on holding elections as scheduled, while other parties called for their postponement and negotiations on a new political arrangement. Awolich, a former managing director of the Sudd Institute, said the government wanted political parties to endorse decisions already taken by Kiir rather than negotiate the country's political future.
Awolich characterised the inter-party dialogue as a banquet among people who had already agreed to violate the constitution. He said some participants had proposed postponing the elections without extending the mandates of the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) and institutions established under the 2018 peace agreement.
The date of the closing ceremony of the inter-party dialogue would be determined in consultation with President Salva Kiir after the resolutions had been adopted. Attempts to prepare final resolutions without the agreement of all participating parties were abandoned after concerns that excluded groups would publicly reject the document.
The inter-party dialogue ended last month without publicly agreed resolutions. The resumption of the dialogue on November 9 aims to finalise the proposed resolutions and a joint communiqué. Key issues to be discussed include the electoral timetable and the country's political future.
Key points
- The inter-party dialogue aims to finalise proposed resolutions and a joint communiqué.
- The government's position is that elections should proceed as scheduled.
- Some parties have called for the postponement of elections and negotiations on a new political arrangement.
