Kiir’s office justifies conduct of elections in 2023

JUBA – South Sudan presidency has on Friday issued a justification for statements attributed to it on social media in which it was widely quoted as saying elections will only take place in June 2023.

According to the revitalized peace agreement, elections shall be conducted at the end of the transitional period of 36 months which commenced in February 2020.

However delayed implementation of some important transitional activities and provisions of the revitalized peace agreement has casted doubts on possibility of elections taking place on time.

Main armed opposition group SPLM-IO led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny said it doesn’t agree with conduct of elections in 2023 because of pending peace tasks, without specifying if it would want to extend elections further until reunification of the rival forces.

Speaking to Sudans Post on Friday morning, Kiir’s press secretary Ateny Wek Ateny said delay in implementation of crucial peace tasks would force the parties to extend elections beyond the provided timeline.

“The elections are not deferred to 2023, but practically the elections will be held in 2023 given how the parties are behind the schedule of the implementation of the revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan,” Ateny said from Juba.

“Security arrangements which is still far from being achieved, the Census, the drawing of constituencies, amongst others are supposed to proceed the elections and we are now left with less than 10 months for the elapse of the interim period as stipulated in the Agreement which (in any reasonable person mind) is impractical to conduct the elections in time,” he added.

Ateny further said the parties to the revitalized peace agreement would want to agree on extension of the transitional period saying it would be difficult for the parties to meet the deadline stipulated in the revitalized peace agreement.

“Since this is a government of the Parties, the Office of the President believe the parties may work for extension,” he said.””Otherwise, meeting the deadline of the elections as per the existing arrangements requires magical powers,” he concluded.