A senior Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) official has reaffirmed his party’s commitment to making democratic strides in South Sudan, saying that SPLM is preparing for upcoming elections.

According to the 2018 peace agreement, general elections must take place 60 days before the end of the transitional period. There are only 12 months remaining in the transitional period. But critical work remains to be done, with less than 10 months to go, including preparing legal and constitutional frameworks for the vote.

Last year, President Salva Kiir, who doubles as the leader of the SPLM party, said the general elections would take place on time.

Speaking to reporters in Juba on Wednesday, SPLM Secretary for Political Affairs Kuol Atem Bol said his party is preparing for the general elections expected to be held in early 2023.

 “We in the SPLM are ready for elections. We need elections because we the people of South Sudan need to select their leaders so that we put an end to power-sharing governments which are a mess,” Atem said.

The SPLM official said the coalition government has made accountability difficult. He ruled out claims that there are fresh differences between senior leaders of the ruling party as discussions on the 2023 general elections start.

“I would like to rubbish claims circulating on social media that there are divisions among the party leaders… I would like to assure our supporters that all our leaders are supporting party leader Salva Kiir Mayardit, and all our members are supporting him. Nobody has come out until now challenging the president,” he said.

“I would like to confirm that the 2013 events would not happen again because all our leaders are supporting President Salva Kiir Mayardit…the SPLM general secretariat is working hard to prepare for the elections,” he added.

In December 2013, political tensions among key SPLM leaders erupted in violence.