![South Sudan activist Edmund Yakani. [Photo courtesy]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Djfq2jGW0AAJpdg.png?resize=799%2C410&ssl=1)
This comes after the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), led by First Vice President Riek Machar, threatened to boycott the elections over unimplemented provisions in the peace agreement.
In a pre-elections report, CEPO urged signatories to the 2018 peace deal to build consensus on holding peaceful elections.
“CEPO is urging the political leadership of the country to take urgent steps for making political decisions that favor consensus building for the conduct of democratic and peaceful elections for ending the political transitional period,” said CEPO Executive Director Edmund Yakani.
“There is need to hold urgent inclusive political dialogue for consensus building on the elections among the parties’ and stakeholders’ signatories to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan,” Yakani added.
The report stressed the need for elections but noted disagreement on the timeline. It advised leaders to consider calls from allies like the United States to hold elections in December 2024.
“Citizens are highly interested to participate in the elections process, but they want creation of conducive environment for the December 2024 elections where democratic standards, safety, peaceful and no return to violence is effectively embraced by the political parties,” the report said.
CEPO warned that failure to hold elections, the first since independence, or attempts to extend the transitional period without consensus would be a mistake.
“South Sudan is in a very sensitive political moment that requires pro-active political leadership role in resolving factors that raising political discontented position, mistrust and motivating political actors and other to get engage in use of language that fuel return to violence as best option for mitigating political misunderstanding,” the report stated.
On Feb. 29, 2024, visiting U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Africa, Sudan, and South Sudan Peter Lord urged the transitional government to create a conducive environment for elections in December.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 but descended into civil war. President Salva Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal in 2018, originally aiming for elections in 2023.
The timeline was extended to December 2024, but the SPLM-IO and other opposition groups cite unimplemented provisions of the peace agreement as a reason to delay elections.
