The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Kornelio Kon Ngu, has expressed doubts about the ability of political parties to implement pending critical tasks of the agreement before elections.
On 4 August 2022, parties to the 2018 revitalized agreement signed on to a further two-year extension of the governance arrangements, postponing general elections until December 2024.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj in Wau town on Friday, Konelio, who is the leader of Other Political Parties (OPP), a signatory party to the 2018 peace agreement, said despite the readiness of the parties to take part in the poll, he doubts the parties’ ability to create unified forces, repatriate the refugees and conduct population census before general elections.
“We are ready to reach a clear solution to the conflict in South Sudan, which is the agreement. We reached an agreement in 2022 on 22nd of February, we have agreed on the roadmap of 24 months; after that, we can move to elections,” said Kornelio.
“We as parliamentarians, all that has been brought forward to us, we are working on it and we have passed some laws, but we still have some work to do. The Political Parties Council has not yet been constituted. The elections Bill has not yet been passed. We still have a lot that we are working on to reach elections,” he added.
Kornelio pointed out that the parties to the peace agreement have not yet met to decide whether the remaining time will take the country to free and fair elections.
“The decision whether or not to hold elections is based on the political parties that signed the agreement. The decision will not come from one side,” he said.
“There is an issue of budget, although the country has oil revenue. The money goes to unknown places. Civil servants are complaining about low salaries while the government is saying there is not enough budget,” he said. “If the citizens are not happy, how will they go for voting?” He asked.
Kornelio underscored the need for elections and democratic transition in South Sudan, saying the parties to the peace agreement should sit down and agree on how to implement the remaining provisions of the agreement.