South Sudan leaders deliberating on the extension of the transitional period and postponement of elections at the state-house on Friday 13 September 2024. |Courtesy: PPU)
President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his five deputies and senior leaders of the political parties and military mechanisms on Friday 13 September extended the transitional period to 2026, arguing that the extension would enable the parties to implement the vital outstanding tasks critical for the stability of South Sudan.
According to the peace implementation roadmap, the transitional period is supposed to expire on 22 September 2024 to allow the electoral institutions to prepare the country for genuine general elections on 22 December 2024 to pave the way for a peaceful and smooth transition to a democratic system of governance.
In a presidency meeting conducted at the state house yesterday Friday evening, President Kiir and his senior colleagues, heads of the political parties that signed the 2018 revitalised peace agreement also agreed to postpone the general elections from 22 December 2024 to December 2026, citing the lack of permanent constitution and proper electoral laws to guide the conduct of the polls.
Addressing the media, the Presidential Advisor on National Security Affairs, Tut Gatluak Manime, who doubles as the head of the national transitional committee, said parties to revitalised peace agreement unanimously agreed to postpone the elections and extend the transitional period to allow the government to conduct population censors, complete the constitution-making process, and legislation of the electoral laws to guide the conduct of the general elections.
“The extended period would give enough time to the government to implement the remaining critical tasks such as the permanent constitution, electoral laws, and population census to pave the way for credible elections in 2026,” Gatluak said.
The Minister of Cabinet Affairs Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro, who also doubles as the secretary of the high-standing committee on the peace implementation roadmap, said the Constitutional Review Commission, the National Election Commission, and the National Bureau of Statistics recommended the extension of the transitional period and postponement of the general election citing that they did not complete the implementation of the critical tasks necessary for the conduct of free and fair election.
He said the presidency endorsed that the elections should be postponed also based on advice from the security institutions and the elections-related institutions.
Minister Elia said the transitional government of national unity would not be suspended by 22 September 2024 as stipulated in the peace implementation roadmap.
He assured that the government would continue functioning normally up to 2026.
Minister Elia said the unity government would use the extended period to mobilise resources to fund the full implementation of the revitalised agreement on the resolution of conflict in South Sudan.
Nearly thirteen years after declaring its independence, South Sudan remains a precariously fragile state beset by insecurity and poverty, the United States government said.
“The nation’s leaders continually fail to exhibit the political will necessary to create the conditions for sustainable peace, democratic governance, the rule of law, and prosperity for the South Sudanese people,” it added.
“Leaders of all parties share responsibility for this failure and for the elite capture of the nation’s riches, at the expense of the country’s peace and the general wellbeing. Widespread corruption perpetuates the suffering and, directly and indirectly, supports conflict, thereby undermining the progress South Sudanese envisioned when they declared statehood.”
In March this year, the United States affirmed its commitment to continue supporting the South Sudanese peoples’ long unmet expectations for peace, democracy, human rights, and a government that uses public resources for the common good.
The extension came a few days after South Sudan’s leader, Salva Kiir, led a high-level delegation to China, where they met President Xi Jimping and discussed issues related to governance, strengthening ties between South Sudan’s ruling party, SPLM, and the Communist Party of China besides promoting investment and Chinese influence in the fields of mining, agriculture, road infrastructure, and oil exploration among others.
South Sudan has evolved into a police state, where the government silences, imprisons, or causes a forced disappearance of political critics, weaponises the civic and political space, and suppresses the media and civil society activities.
A few days ago, the country’s security agents deployed at the printing facilities removed news articles from the independent newspaper, signifying the growing media censorship posing threats to democracy in the world’s youngest nation.
A new ICRC report released last week sheds light on the plight of the families of missing people in South Sudan.
The report indicates that over 5,700 cases of missing people are currently being followed by the ICRC and the South Sudan Red Cross.
The actual number of missing people in South Sudan is probably much higher, as most disappearances are yet to be documented.
© Golden Times | South Sudan
