![Oyet Nathaniel, first deputy speaker of parliament and deputy chair of SPLM-IO speaks to journalists during a press conference held in Juba on Sunday, 23 July 2023 [Photo by Sudans Post]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/image-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C541&quality=89&ssl=1)
The transitional period is expected to end next February, with elections scheduled two months before, as per the revitalized peace agreement, which falls in December this year.
Despite disagreements between the SPLM-IO and the ruling SPLM-IG under President Salva Kiir, the National Elections Commission (NEC) has declared December 22 as election day.
The South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) stated in a position paper that only 10 percent of the revitalized peace agreement has been implemented, calling for inter-party dialogue among signatories to decide the way forward regarding elections.
The SPLM-IG insists on holding elections despite the incomplete implementation of key provisions, such as drafting a permanent constitution, forming a national army, and establishing transitional justice mechanisms.
Speaking to reporters in Juba, Oyet, who is also the first deputy chair of the transitional national legislative assembly, said that the SPLM-IG is not providing concrete reasons for conducting elections before the full implementation of the agreement.
“We are asking other parties, including the incumbent TGONU, to convince us that with the time left, the implementation of the peace agreement, the pending tasks, and the prerequisites is going to be completed prior to the conduct of elections or prior to the end of the transitional period,” Oyet said. “They are failing to convince us up to now. What they are telling us are stories which aim at abrogating the peace agreement,” he added.
“We are not going to be party to any process or any decision that shall abrogate the peace agreement. We know the peace process has been moving, staggering, moving slowly. We have relative peace in the Republic of South Sudan,” Oyet stated.
He called on the other parties to implement the agreement for a permanent resolution of the conflict in South Sudan.
“Relative peace is better than relapse to war. And we are telling our partners in the revitalized agreement that we must implement the agreement, which is the basis of the resolution of the conflict in the Republic of South Sudan,” he added.
