The South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) has strongly condemned President Salva Kiir's recent actions, labeling them a coup d'état against South Sudan's current constitutional order. According to a press statement signed by SSOMA Secretary General Emmanuel Ajawin, the grouping has closely followed President Kiir's political maneuvers, which culminated in the dissolution of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) and the establishment of an illegal caretaker administration.
SSOMA, led by National Salvation Front (NAS) rebel leader Gen. Thomas Cirillo Swaka, considers President Kiir's actions as a grave political, security, and constitutional crisis. The group has consistently expressed its rejection of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) as a mechanism for resolving the conflict in South Sudan and achieving durable peace. Instead, SSOMA has publicly advocated for a new peace process that addresses the root causes of the conflict in the country.
The present developments in the country vindicate SSOMA's principled position that R-ARCSS is flawed and will not lead to sustainable peace in South Sudan, as it did not address the root causes of the conflict. SSOMA stresses that the current situation should not be addressed through unilateral political measures. Instead, South Sudan requires a genuine, inclusive, and nationally owned peace process that will comprehensively address the root causes of the conflict and chart the way forward for sustainable peace.
SSOMA commends the United Nations and regional actors who have emphasized the importance of inclusive political dialogue and the need to involve non-signatory stakeholders in efforts to achieve a sustainable political settlement. The opposition grouping urged urgent international and regional actions to address the dire humanitarian situation in the country. SSOMA calls upon South Sudanese stakeholders, the African Union, IGAD, the United Nations, neighboring states, and other international partners to urgently consult on the emerging constitutional and political crisis.
The group also called for an urgent, inclusive, and genuine comprehensive national dialogue involving political parties, opposition movements, civil society groups, faith-based groups, traditional leaders, and other stakeholders to establish a credible pathway toward constitutional governance, sustainable peace, and a democratic transition. Such dialogue should be convened in a neutral venue outside the country, using all documents of previous peace processes and agreements as the basis for a New Comprehensive Peace Process.
SSOMA categorically rejects the sham elections being planned by Salva Kiir and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Government (SPLM-IG). The group maintains that any electoral process must be preceded by the necessary political, constitutional, security, and institutional conditions required to ensure that elections are peaceful, inclusive, transparent, and credible. The holding of elections should form part of a genuine democratic transition rather than serve as a smokescreen for legitimizing dictatorship.
SSOMA remains committed to a peaceful, inclusive, and negotiated resolution of the South Sudan conflict and calls upon all national, regional, and international stakeholders to work collectively to prevent further deterioration of the country's political, security, and humanitarian situation. The group warns that if the situation is not rescued through an inclusive comprehensive dialogue, South Sudan will soon be engulfed in violence that will hasten its total collapse and disintegration.
Key points
- SSOMA condemns President Salva Kiir's actions as a coup d'état and calls for a new peace process to address the emerging constitutional and political crisis in South Sudan.
- The group advocates for an inclusive and nationally owned peace process that addresses the root causes of the conflict and charts the way forward for sustainable peace.
- SSOMA rejects the planned elections, citing the need for necessary conditions to ensure peaceful, inclusive, transparent, and credible elections.
