Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A senior South Sudan holdout opposition official has questioned the credibility of the proposed elections slated for end of the transitional period in 2023, asking if the election would be free and fair.
Currently, there are disagreements between the main signatories to the revitalized peace agreement if the world’s youngest country should go for election in 2023 or, despite the lack of progress in the implementation of chapter two of the peace deal.
Chapter two of the agreement deals with the security arrangements providing for the reunification of the rival forces, who have been in a deadly war since outbreak of politically-motivated ethnic violence since 2023.
President Kiir and his allies are pushing for elections to be conducted at the end of the transitional period in 2023 with or without the opposition consent. Kiir also asserts that the elections will be conducted without the population census.
But First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny and other prominent opposition leaders have maintained that they won’t participate in the elections unless the reunification of the forces is completed and refugees repatriated home.
In a brief statement, Gen. Dickson Gatluak Joak Nyuot, a senior member of the South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) led by General Paul Malong Awan, question if the elections will be free and fair.
“Should we have a free election in 2023 as South Sudan prepares for general Elections in which all citizens are able to vote for the candidate of their choice, and a fair election is one in which all votes have equal power?” Gatluak questioned.
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