Faith Nyasuguta
South Sudan has announced its plans to prepare for parliamentary elections slated for December, marking the country’s first elections since gaining independence.
Initially scheduled before February 2023, the elections were postponed to late 2024 following agreements between the transitional government and the opposition after the civil war ceased in 2018.
Abednego Akok Kacuol, chairperson of the National Elections Commission, disclosed that preparations are underway, with officers deployed nationwide and necessary vehicles acquired for mobility.
The government has allocated funds to kick-start the process, and a draft calendar, subject to stakeholder approval, proposes commencing voter registration in June.
Pre-election activities will begin with headquarters set up in Juba before extending to the 10 states and three administrative areas, according to Akok.
Last year, South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir noted that he would run for the nation’s highest office as the flag bearer for his Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) party.
Speaking during an event attended by SPLM supporters in the Greater Bahr El Ghazal region celebrating his party’s endorsement of his run for the presidency, Kiir said it is a signal that they are determined to hold credible and fair elections next year.
“As party members, let us work on the basis that there will be no extension of the transitional period and we have to go for the elections,” he said.
He said he will work with parties to the peace agreement to pave the way for elections to achieve permanent stability in the country.
SPLM supporters came from the Bahr El Ghazal region and Abyei Administrative Area.
“I am deeply touched by your endorsement, and your continued support to our historic party gives me confidence that we will stand together as we head towards elections next year,” said Kiir, who has been the country’s only president since he led it to independence from Sudan in 2011.
He claimed that his government is doing everything possible to ensure that all the processes that are crucial to conducting the elections are put in place.
The United Nations notes that South Sudan is scheduled to hold general elections in December, marking the end of a transitional period initiated after a violent civil war ensued post-independence due to a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and former deputy Riek Machar. The conflict resulted in the loss of approximately 400,000 lives.
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