Juba, South Sudan: The announcement earlier this month by South Sudan’s president of the start of a national dialogue in the war-torn country was a rare bit of good news amid the chaos that has so long prevailed there. However, it is still unclear how exactly this dialogue will work, say political analysts.
“Whether it will be the next hope to put the country on track again from its complex series of overlapping sectarian, political, and ethnic conflicts that are beyond the capacity of any one actor or policy to resolve, it remains to be seen,” Abraham Awolich of the Sudd Institute, a think-tank based in the capital Juba, told Anadolu Agency.
“A genuine national dialogue could be the best hope for South Sudan’s stability; its expectations are high. Could this exercise close the chapter of hatred and killings and open a new page? The resulting period remains to be seen and rewritten in the next three months,” Awolich said.
“The country needs something that will bring back peace and stability or else a longstanding conflict could result in extremism,” he explained. “Dialogue has been effectively used to bring peace and stability in many countries when it is well managed.”
Despite the uncertainty, some observers have expressed hope that South Sudan may yet emerge from the current crisis. Others, including peace partners, have vowed to provide financial support for the new government’s campaign against ethnic feuds that could lead to genocide.
Addressing parliament, President Salva Kiir announced a need for a national dialogue on December 14, confessing publicly for the first time that he too, was worried about the direction the country is heading in. Kiir also asked the public for forgiveness.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, was plunged in civil war when a long-running political feud between Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar exploded into violence, much of its along ethnic lines.
The rival leaders signed a shaky peace deal in August 2015. But fresh conflict broke up out this July, quickly spreading from the Presidential Palace to the rest of the city and forcing Machar out of the capital, Juba.
