CEPO Urges South Sudan Political Parties to Make Clear Political Decisions on Elections

The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has called upon the inclusive political parties in South Sudan to engage in dialogue regarding the fate of the upcoming elections as required by the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS). 

With the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC), National Elections Commission (NEC), and Political Parties Council (PPC) currently conducting leadership and member inductions trainings, it is crucial that these institutions receive clear political guidance and directions through consensus among the political parties.

Mr. Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of CEPO, emphasized the need for clear political decisions to inform the technical work for the scheduled elections in December 2024 or the constitutional making process before the elections. 

Without consensus on the preconditions set by the R-ARCSS for creating a conducive environment for the elections, the NEC will struggle to establish a clear elections calendar, while the NCRC will face difficulties in determining when the constitution will be ready.

By January 2024, political parties are required to make decisions on several key issues, including whether the elections should be conducted in December 2024, allocating adequate budgets for the NEC, NCRC, and PPC, denouncing violence in relation to the elections, conducting elections without a population census, prioritizing the constitution-making process, unifying forces, and determining how to delimit geographical constituencies. Additionally, ensuring unrestricted civic and political space for inclusive participation in the electoral process is crucial.

“It is imperative that political parties provide decisions by January 2024 to facilitate the work of the NEC, PPC, and NCRC in accordance with their establishment legislations,” stressed Mr. Yakani.

CEPO is urging political parties to take this call for an urgent meeting seriously as time is running out. Failure to make political decisions on ending the transitional period through timely, credible, free, fair, and peaceful elections will leave no alternative options apart from the formation of an inclusive technocrat government by March 2024. Consensus on the conduct of the elections as a process for ending the transitional period is now the only viable option for the incumbent in the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity.