This archive report was first published on 10 November 2019.
On Sunday, the Igad Council of Ministers met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and approved the 100-day delay in the formation of South Sudan's transitional government of national unity.
The council's decision comes after President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar agreed to delay the government by 100 days, with the aim of submitting an implementation report after the first 50 days.
Uganda and Sudan, guarantors of the peace deal, have offered to provide interim security arrangements for the pre-transitional team as it works to address the main contentious issues.
The council also directed President Kiir to immediately disburse the $100 million needed to implement the peace deal, which has been missed twice already.
According to the revitalised peace agreement signed on September 12, 2018, the transitional government of national unity was supposed to be formed by May 12, 2019. However, parties have continually failed to agree on key issues, including the number of regional states, security for VIPs, and the merger of splintered military groups.
On November 9, the council welcomed the Outcome Document of the Ministerial consultative meeting with parties to the R-ARCSS, which endorsed the agreement of the Tripartite Summit and the Outcome Document, including the agreement to extend the Pre-Transitional Period for 100 days effective November 12.
"[It] called upon the guarantors and the parties to urgently operationalise the new mechanism agreed upon in the Entebbe Tripartite Summit of November 7, 2019, and to prepare the terms of reference of the new mechanism by taking into consideration the mandate and work of existing agreement, mechanisms and institutions."
— Igad Council of Ministers
