The High-level Sanding Committee for the Implementation of the 2018 Peace Agreement and the Roadmap has announced finalizing its work to be submitted to the Presidency.
This comes after the committee received detailed reports from institutions such as the National Election Commission NEC), the National Constitution Review Commission, Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs the National Bureau of Statistics and the security mechanisms.
Last month, the Presidency and the leaders of political parties, which are party to the 2018 Peace Agreement, agreed to seek technical advice from the electoral institutions on the feasibility of the upcoming elections.
According to the National Election Act 2023, the Transitional Government must dissolve its executive and legislative bodies by September 22, three months before elections.
NEC has announced a December 22 General Election as per Section 16 (1) of the National Election Act 2023. However, the feasibility of the poll — the first since the country gained independence in July 2011 — is increasingly in doubt.
Addressing reporters after a meeting in Juba on Wednesday, the head of the High Level Committee and Presidential Adviser Tut Gatluak said they had reviewed the implementation of the agreement and the pending tasks.
“We have agreed to submit our report to the Presidency to decide on the way forward. Our aim is to keep peace and stability in South Sudan,” said Gatluak.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Eila Lomuro said that the High-Level Committee had made recommendations based on the technical advice from the electoral institutions.
“The decision that will be made by the Presidency and the parties to the agreement will be based on a technical decision and not on politics. Our commitment is to maintain the peace achieved under the Revitalized Peace Agreement until the people of South Sudan can vote their leaders,” he said.
Several sources told Radio Tamazuj that according to the technical report; 80-90 percent of the tasks of the peace agreement were still pending, making it difficult to hold an election by December.
South Sudan has been formally at peace since a 2018 agreement that ended a five-year conflict responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Elections scheduled for last year were postponed to this December, but few preparations are in place.
The feasibility of December 2024 elections — the first since the country gained independence in July 2011 — is increasingly in doubt.
With elections barely four months away, political parties need clarity on how to complete the critical pending tasks to conduct free, fair and credible poll.
The original transitional period agreed to in the 2018 peace deal ended on February 22, 2023, while the extended transition period is scheduled to end on 22 February 2025.