The Federal Democratic Party led by Minister of Higher Education Gabriel Changson Chang on Saturday launched its political activities in Juba with a call for free political space.
The ceremony brought together party supporters who were adorned in the yellow party color, representatives from the SPLM-IO, United Democratic Salvation Front Mainstream (UDSF), and other political parties under the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA).
Speaking during the event, the party’s president, Gabriel Changson, called for the opening of political space so that the opposition, media, and civil society can operate freely.
“We must have political space to express our opinions freely without fear or favor and this is what the constitution we will be writing will provide for. Similarly, civil society organizations, our media houses should be vibrant, should be free, should criticize us, should take us to task as leaders, as people, and as party” Changson said. “We need peace so that our farmers can go to their farms. Food should not be brought from Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, or Ethiopia. We should produce it here because that is the dividend of peace and that is why we need to embrace peace so that we can move forward.”
He appealed to the international community to support South Sudanese to produce their food rather than dependency on relief.
“We have to define the role of the international and regional communities. They have stood with us for a long time, they brought us to this agreement and we want their support,” Changson said. “They are supporting our civil population with relief food but how long will this continue even if they are saving lives, it should not go on indefinitely.”
He noted that dependency on relief aid is creating a mentality of dependency.
“Let us have an elected government which will do its part and deliver because the stability of South Sudan is beneficial to South Sudanese, to the region, and the international community,” Changson said.
Meanwhile, Regina Joseph, the SPLM-IO Secretary-General called on the parties to embrace and implement the revitalized peace agreement to take the country to democracy.
“We have to implement the peace agreement and that is our mission because it is the only thing that will take us to a new phase of elections for us to transition to a democratic system,” she said. “There are many violations against the agreement and especially on SPLM-IO. Let us stand together as opposition because if there is a violation against SPM-IO today, tomorrow it will be against you.”