South Sudan political, civil society leaders warn against move to organize ‘sham election’

JUBA, JULY 14, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan holdout political and civil society groups on Thursday warned against any attempt by the country’s transitional government to conduct what they insisted would be ‘a sham election’, saying the country is not yet ready for elections.

In a mega rally on July 4 in South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal State’s capital Wau, President Salva Kiir Mayardit told supporters that the country will finally go for elections in December 2024 and that he will run for president.

But in a statement extended to Sudans Post, the National Consensus Forum (NCF) comprising holdout opposition groups and civil society organizations said Kiir’s government is trying to organize ‘unwelcome unilateral’ elections in an attempt to extend the suffering of the citizens under the SPLM party’s rule.

“The National Consensus Forum (NCF) is concerned about the recent desperate and outrageous move by the ‘de-facto’ Government in South Sudan to yet launch an unwarranted, unpopular, and unwelcome unilateral undemocratic, clandestine, and sham election process next year. This is not an election, but simply another attempt again at an illegal extension of the continuation of the status quo,” they said.

“National free, fair, transparent, and credible electoral processes are not launched by interested parties or their flag bearers. They are officially launched by the legal electoral commissions of democratically elected governments and involve multiple parties,” they added.

The opposition groups went on to attack this year’s government population estimates which gave President Kiir’s home state of Warrap a lion’s share of the country’s population, and further deplored Chief Justice Chan Reec Madut’s presence at an SPLM rally in Wau last week.

“Long before this spectacular show by the SPLM/IG, the presentation of seriously flawed population estimates giving Warrap and Northern Bhar El Ghazal States alone an absolute majority (52%) of the national population, exposed the ill fate of the compromised elections,” they said.

“Those estimates were contested by all including the United Nations (UN). The UN now has clearly shown that the Country is not yet ready to carry out elections at this time. With the Chief Justice of the country parading himself publicly as part of the party launching the campaign, to whom could any future election irregularities be reported?

“Would any citizen or observer trust the decisions of such a compromised justice system or the outcome of opaque elections? While elections would be welcome, it is not the right time for holding them now and expect a credible outcome.”

They further for a free and fair election to take place, the government “must work with all South Sudanese stakeholders to bring about genuine sustainable peace and ensure that security prevails all over the nation” and “facilitate the return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their homes.”

They also called for conduct of census, determine electoral constituencies and their boundaries, encourage freedom of movement, expression, and association. They also called for formation of an independent electoral commission, prepare the permanent constitution and open political space for political parties’ to exercise.

“The South Sudanese Government has not met any of these conditions for conducting fair, free, transparent, and credible elections. NCF stands firmly with the peace-loving people of South Sudan in denouncing and totally rejecting the brazen and illegal attempt by the de-facto government in Juba, to hold sham elections in South Sudan in 2024,” they said.

“The Inclusive South Sudanese Roundtable NCF is calling for is the only way to resolve the root causes of the Conflict in the Country and achieve a New Dispensation and Social Contract for the long-Suffering People of South Sudan,” they added.

The National Consensus Forum (NCF) is a consortium of holdout political and civil society organizations.

These organizations, mostly in exile, include the Real-SPLM, the National Salvation Front, the SSUF/A, the SSPM/A, The Steps, the PCCA, the NDM-PF, SSNMC, SAA, Academics and professionals, CODA, RCM, and NPM.