John Akoon
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Small political parties are fuming over the timeframe given by the Political Parties Council for registrations before the declaration of campaigns ahead of the general election.
The chairperson of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Gabriel Kuot, lamented in an exclusive interview with The City Review that the council did not give enough time, therefore most parties may be left out in the process.
The PPC directed that the parties should be duly registered 180 days prior to the election. This implies that by the end of June 2024, all parties planning to take part in the election must have registration certificates.
The parties have a membership threshold of 500 per state, which, according to Mr Kuot, is legally provided for in the Political Party Act but the problem rests on the timeframe given for registration.
“The announcement of the registration process was about to start a year ago and now the challenges are that the time is very short for political parties to mobilize across ten states and three administrative areas,” he lamented, adding that more time should have been given due to the lack of civic space in the country.
Kuot argued that given that there is only one party conducting rallies across the country is an indication that there is an unfair advantage that the PPC must address.
“It is just one party conducting political rallies in Bahr el Ghazal, Malakal and other areas like Yei of Central Equatoria State,” he claimed.
“I welcome the initiative of registration, but I call upon the Political Parties Council to be impartial and show justice and equality for all political parties without favouring other political parties,” he said.
He further claimed that there was interference in the affairs of the PPC to bar some parties through unaffordable registration fees.
“The government is trying to influence the political parties council by charging the parties with an amount that may not be afforded as an attempt to block the process, ” he claimed, although he did not reveal how much his party was asked to pay for registration.
“We are calling upon the Political Parties’ Council to be independent enough to provide justice for all parties in the spirit of professionalism.”
The chairman of the Common People’s Alliance (CPA), Deng Bol Aruai, stated that getting 500 members in every state as per the PPC’s requirement is not a big concern.
“We are making every effort to demonstrate that the CPA is distinct from other parties, whether intentionally or unintentionally falling into those categories,” he said.
“Our mission is to democratically attain power in the 2024 elections and retain it to ensure a peaceful, democratic, diverse, inclusive, and prosperous nation.”
He claimed that all political parties in the country are facing challenges in reaching the states due to lack of infrastructural development that the ruling parties failed to implement.
“Not only are the states of South Sudan difficult to access due to lack of infrastructure, but there is also the potential for ambushes and killings along these routes,” he stated.
The chairperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters of South Sudan (EFFOSS), Deng Kuol, lamented that his party cannot manage to draw out the 500 members in each of the 10 states without conducting political rallies.
“For us, the only problem is the security threat, drawing 500 members from different states cannot be done without conducting political rallies to sell out party ideologies,” he said.
“Let political parties’ councils allow political space for the other parties to mobilise their members. Conducting a rally by the opposition party is not a threat to the nation.”
South Sudan is planning to conduct the general elections in December 2024 upon the completion of roadmap tasks.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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