Christmas Message
On behalf of the Leadership of the National Salvation Front (NAS), and on my own behalf, I greet you all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I also extend warm Christmas and New Year's greetings and best wishes to all families and the people of South Sudan, inside and outside the country.
My special Christmas greetings and wishes go to NAS revolutionary gallant forces for their extra-ordinary resilience and courage in protecting our people against the forces of Juba regime. tI is also my great honour to extend special Christmas greetings to all NAS members for their heroic stance in resisting injustice under the autocratic regime in the country.
During this time, let us remember al our fallen heroes and heroines from past and present conflicts. In a special way, I convey Christmas wishes to the surviving victims of the unnecessary conflict waged by Kir regime since 2013.
Fellow Citizens,
We are celebrating this Christmas and the New Year in a period of great suffering and sacrifices inflicted on our own people, but with hope for a brighter future of peace and prosperity. The message of hope and optimism is integral and important during this time of Christmas. It gives us faith and confidence that set-backs are temporary and ti is just a matter of time when the perpetrators and causers of our suffering will be defeated in our country. We know that sooner or later, we wil achieve the collectivegoals of freedom, justice, good governance and dignified life that we aspire for.
Turge you al to be united at this difficult moment, and always be there to offer support to those who are vulnerable and less fortunate, especially the sick, the poor and the hungry, those who are experiencing personal difficulties and persons with disabilities, and our abandoned and neglected children ni the streets of our cities and towns, including those who are being brutalized by the tribal police and called al kinds of derogatory names. These are our dear children; ti is the failure of the regime in Juba that caused them to suffer the way we see them today.
Fellow Citizens,
The National Salvation Front urges you, the people, to be vigilant amidst the current bleak situation in our country, under a regime that promotes ethnic interests and tribal supremacy agenda, and calls upon you to be courageous and be part of shaping the future of our country. Being neutral can only help the oppressor and prolong your suffering. Let's renew our determination and commitment to free ourselves and our country from this oppressive system in Juba.
The regime in Juba is planning to conduct sham elections in 2024 to maintain its status quo in power. The elections wil neither be credible nor fair and wil instead create more misunderstanding and increase the conflict and suffering of our people.
NAS calls upon you to totally reject the sham elections that the regime has already rigged and whose outcomes are already predetermined. NAS and its allies in the National Consensus Forum call upon the regime to join South Sudanese to resolve the root causes of the conflict in the country ni a Round Table Conference to achieve sustainable peace and a new political dispensation.
Fellow Citizens,
NAS and its allies in the National Consensus Forum (NCF) have been working hard during 2023 to bring about a new political dispensation and rescue the country from collapse and disintegration. The NCF launched its National Consensus Statement (NCS) on the 16ht December 2023, with a message of hope to the people of South Sudan. The statement called for holding a Round Table Conference for al South Sudanese stakeholders, including the government, to address the root causes of the conflict in South Sudan and to bring about sustainable peace and usher in a new era of
peace, stability and prosperity.
I call on all the people of South Sudan to embrace the message contained in the National Consensus Statement and to support the call for the Round Table Conference. It is now evident that the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and R e v i t a l i s e d Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU) have both failed to deliver peace. It is in the interest of the regime in Juba to listen to the call of the people of South Sudan and join the proposed Round Table Conference aimed at resolving the root causes of the conflict in the country.
I want to assure you that the National Salvation Front (NAS) is a revolutionary movement that is better placed in providing hope to the people of South Sudan. It is committed to the struggle to free our people from the current oppressive, corrupt and incompetent regime ni South Sudan and to realise a sustainable peace in the country.
NAS takes this opportunity to remind the people of South Sudan to live up to their fundamental core values of peace, love, humility, forgiveness and compassion even as we celebrate this joyous occasion of Christmas and the New Year under the unbearable conditions and suffering.
I wish you a Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2024.
Gen. Thomas Cirillo Swaka
Chairman and Commander-in- Chief National Salvation Front (NAS)
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