Machar ally urges citizens to disregard elections date declared by NEC

JUBA – An ally of South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar Teny, from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), has urged citizens to ignore the National Elections Commission’s (NEC) announcement of the election timeline.

On Thursday, the NEC set December 22, 2024, as the election date. NEC Chairperson Abednego Akol told reporters that the commission is required to declare an election date even if there is uncertainty about the poll actually taking place.

In response, Dut Majokdit, former Northern Bahr el Ghazal State chairperson of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), criticized the NEC for setting a date without consulting the parties to the revitalized peace agreement. He pointed to ongoing plans for extending the transitional period.

“The chairperson of the National Elections Commission should not announce an election date without consultation from the parties to the agreement,” Majokdit said. “The interparty dialogue concluded last week with recommendations to the principals to discuss the whole issue at the presidency level and come out with a final solution regarding the elections.”

Majokdit, also a member of the SPLM-IO’s National Liberation Council (NLC), appealed to South Sudanese to disregard the NEC’s announcement and wait for communication from the presidency.

“I urge [South Sudanese] to urgently disregard this document that is trending on social media regarding the elections in December 2024 due to lack of prerequisites for the election to take place,” he said. “Let’s wait for the Presidency meeting to see the outcome. I believe there will be no elections in December 2024 as alleged by the commission.”

Majokdit advised citizens to screenshot his statement “for future reference.”

The possibility of elections taking place is diminishing. A high-level committee assessing the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement met last week to evaluate the peace process.

A senior committee member indicated that the parties have reached a consensus to postpone the elections for at least 24 months, or two years, during which the peace agreement will be implemented. Elections would then be conducted in December 2026.

President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Machar are expected to publicly announce the extension of the transitional period as recommended by the high-level committee within the next few weeks or months.