09/01/2017
*.Your Excellency, First Vice President of the Republic,*.Your Excellency, Vice President of the Republic,*.Right Honorable Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly,*.Right Honorable Speaker of the Council of States*.Members of the diplomatic corps*.Fellow citizens,I wish to extend my warm greetings to all of you during this festive season. I want to pourspecial greetings and sympathies to our people in the internally displaced and refugeecamps and to all South Sudanese living across the world.Like all of you, I am deeply concerned about the current direction our country is taking. I am particularly concerned about the recent reports of rising hatred, divisions and tensions, all of which are rapidly eating our social fabrics away.I am deeply concerned about the parents who can no longer feed their children because of our shrinking economy.I am also concerned about the growing number of street children and women who have lost everything due to the ongoing political situation. I am deeply concerned that all our citizens are distraught over the current political conflict and drastically declining economy.At this festive season, I have come before you toshareyour government’s efforts to end the conflict and to consolidate peace in the country.As your leaders, we have both moral and constitutional responsibility to protect and preserve the unity of our people, end the suffering, restore the economy, and refocus on the State and the Nation building.As you are all aware, our country descended into political crisis in 2013 as a result of unconventional struggle for power.The political crisis was immediately followed by an extreme violence that shook the foundation of the young Republic. As a resultof these developments, our country is deeply divided and the continuing conflict is threatening to tear it apart.As long as I am your President, I will not allow the suffering of our people to continue and I will not also allow this country to fall apart.All my comrades and I fought for this countrynot to tear it apart, but to preserve its unity, guarantee its economic viability, and ensure enduring freedom and equality for its people. And so on this special day, I am calling upon all of you to embrace unity by addressing national unity.National unity is the mean through which we can preserve, protect and restore the integrityof our country. In my view, national unity is a function of dialogue and consensus building.Unity is the coming together of all our people to work together to develop a vision to guide our country for generations to come.In pursuit of national unity and reconciliation,your government has undertaken many efforts in an attempt to bring the conflict to an end and to create favorable environment to reconstitute national consensus. These efforts resulted in the signing of the Agreement on the Reunification of the SPLM, which essentially addressed the issues that created discord within the party.We have also signed the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCISS), which settled politicaland military aspects of the conflict. While these agreements have to a larger extent addressed many political issues, there remain a number of fundamental issues that require a much broader South Sudanese forum. In particular, our political settlements have often ignored longstanding grassroots grievances. For example the SPLM Reunification Agreement and the ARCISS have narrowly addressed power and military aspect of the conflict.To link political settlements with grassroots grievances, the next stage; therefore, requiresthe participation of a broader South Sudanese people in order to fully restore peace and tranquility in the country.As a measure to consolidate peace in our country and to bring our people together, I am initiatingthe process of National Dialogue.Remember, Dialogue has been a hallmark of our liberation struggle. We had always used dialogue as a mechanism to manage our differences and to recommit ourselves to our unity of purpose and resolve to set our people free. The SPLM first entered dialogue with the members of the Anyanya 2, a process that consolidated the unity of the South Sudanese in their struggle. When the movement was split in 1991, we held the first National Convention in Chukudum in 1994 where we recommitted ourselves to our unity as a measure to achieve our liberation objectives.In 1999, we supported the Wunlit Peace Initiative between the Nuer and the Jieng communities, a process that served as a forerunner for the SPLM unity in 2002 and 2003 when Dr. Riek Machar and Dr. Lam Akol, respectively, rejoined and got reintegrated into the SPLM.When the movement experienced turbulence in 2004, we convened a high level dialogue in Rumbek, paving the way for the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005. In 2005, we initiated the South-South Dialogue that culminated in the Juba Declaration during which the Southern Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF), under the leadership of the Late Gen. Paulino Matip Nhial, got successfully integrated into the SPLA.Lastly, in 2010, just before the referendum, we held an All South Sudanese Political Parties Conference where we agreed to unite our people to end all violence so as to give them the golden opportunity to vote to determine their destiny.Evidently, the people of South Sudan have quite an impressive record when it comes to dialoguing, dating as far back as 1940s. Guided by this rich history, I have no doubt in my mind that when the people of South Sudan come together to discuss the state of the affairs in their country, they can come outunited and stronger together. I strongly believe that the current situation in our country calls for a national dialogue. It calls for unity and an end to the cycle of violence and atrocities.National Dialogue in my view is both a forum and process through which the people of South Sudan can gather to redefine the basisof their unity as it relates to nationhood, citizenship, and a sense of belonging.This opportunity allows the people of South Sudan to discuss issues related to the structure of the State, renegotiate social contract, and revitalize their aspirations for development and responsibility in the world of nations.I take the view that a successful national dialogue can only be realized if and when all the people of South Sudan have broadly participated, agreed, and accepted its agenda and outcomes.For this to be realized the process of nationaldialogue must be seen as credible, genuine, and open to all the people of South Sudan and it should have reliable guarantees for its outcomes to be accepted and implemented.To achieve this, I am throwing the full weight of your government behind it, but the government will not lead or control the process.The government shall be a stakeholder in the national dialogue. I strongly believe in a South Sudanese-led process and so we have identified our fellow citizens, who are personsof consensus with stature and integrity to steer this process.Your government will guarantee safety and freedom of all the actorswho are going to participate in the National Dialogue, includingthose who are currently out of the country, some of whom are opposed to the government.To ensure the credibility and effectiveness of the National Dialogue, your leadership will work very closely with the regional, continental, and international partners, including IGAD, JMEC, AU, Troika, and the UN.As you might be aware, my recent visits to Ethiopia, South Africa, and Equatorial Guinea were aimed at mobilizing and seeking regional support for National Dialogue.Similarly, I have also sent a number of the Special envoys around to mobilize our partners to support the National Dialogue.The National Dialogue should have an acceptable agenda and a set of parameters to guide the process. One of the parameters is for all the stakeholders to accept the fact that the National Dialogue is placed within the framework of the Peace Agreement (ARCISS).Doing this is critical, because the agreement provides the governing framework that guides our actions and this dialogue should not be seen as
