Keji Janefer
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Government Spokesperson, Michael Makuei, said the government is committed to implementing the roadmap and ending the cyclic extension of the transitional period.
Makuei, in presenting the roadmap’s objectives on the second day of the 6th Governors’ Forum yesterday, promised that the peace agreement would not be extended further.
“We assure you that with this extension, there will be no more extensions, but there will be elections,” said Makuei.
“I am sure that as parties to the agreement, we are seriously engaged, and we will implement the agreement or the roadmap in letter and spirit,” he added.
He asserted that the regime is ready for a free and fair election, arguing that critics’ accusations that the government intends to cling to power is misguided.
“There have been doubting Thomases…There are people who are saying, “These people do not want to hand over power but they want to stay in the chairs. This is not true (sic).”
He argued that the government wants to develop a system that will lead to fair and democratic elections at the end of the day.
Makuei, who is also the minister of information communication technology and postal services, said the parties to the agreement have graduated of the first batch of the unified forces and are ready to enrol the second batch.
He added that other provisions of the agreement, such as the permanent constitution-making process, are in the pipeline to be achieved.
Need for support
He called on the regional and international communities to support the government in the implementation of the roadmap.
“[I] appeal to the international community and to the region to come in for the support of the government of South Sudan,” he appealed.
Makuei said that the lack of support had slowed the implementation of the agreement, necessitating the need for the extension of the term of the agreement.
However, for Makuei, this will imply more than just avoiding further extensions because a credible election is required.
“This time we do not want to extend and, at the same time to run elections when we are not fully prepared,” he added.
He stated that the implementation of peace agreement cannot just be conducted fully by the government, which is also facing a lot of natural disasters such as floods.
In August, parties to the agreement extended the transitional period for 24 months to allow the parties to complete the implementation of the pending tasks in the peace agreement.
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