The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Party has come out strongly to dismiss reports circulating on social media that President Salva Kiir Mayardit and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar have agreed to postpone the December elections.
An online news publication on Wednesday carried a news item indicating that Kiir and Dr. Machar had “agreed in principle to postpone the December elections.” The publication quoted an opposition official who they said spoke on condition of anonymity. The anonymous source, however, did not indicate when the deal was reached or the new date of the polls.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday in Juba, Daniel Badagbu Rambasa, the SPLM Party spokesperson, said President Kiir and Dr. Machar did not strike any deal to postpone the elections. He described the news which has since gone viral on social media as a rumor that meant to destabilize the public.
“We want to put it crystal clear that we have got this morning a media message circulating that the Chairman of the SPLM, Comrade Salva Kiir Mayardit, has struck a deal with Dr. Riek Machar to postpone the election. This is the rumor going, circulating on social media this morning, and this is confusing the public,” he stated. “As SPLM, we are here to categorically denounce that rumor, to say H Comrade Salva Kiir has not discussed any or struck any deal with the first vice president regarding the postponement of the elections.”
The SPLM Party spokesperson emphasized that the elections will be held as scheduled.
“The election will be in December 2024 without fail and that is the date which has been scheduled for this election. As the SPLM, we are party to the peace agreement, and together with our partners together, if there is anything to do with passing information about the election, it will be done jointly with all the peace partners,” he clarified. “We have also read the same paper and do not know the person who wrote this article and do not want the public to be misled by such information.
We are making it clear that we are implementing peace in a spirit that is not going to jeopardize what is put in the peace agreement.”
According to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement, South Sudan is supposed to conduct elections before the end of the transition period which is scheduled for December this year. However, some parties to the agreement insist that certain prerequisites need to be firmly in place before the conduct of elections.
Badagbu underscored that the SPLM Party is ready for elections at the end of the year and stated that pushing the polls would be a violation of the peace agreement.
“We can never stop going for election in December because it will be one of the violations that we can do because the peace agreement is clear that at the end of the transitional period, we must go for elections, and these elections are scheduled for December 2024,” he stressed. “And by now, you have seen everything to do with election is done. You can see already the Electoral Commission is already constituted. You have also seen that the Political Parties’ Council has also been constituted. You have also seen that we have also unified the army. You have seen that we have graduated them and started deploying them. So what is remaining now? There is nothing.”
The SPLM party mouthpiece warned individuals against confusing the masses and said the elections will be held as scheduled.
“Election is a popular demand of the South Sudanese people because they need to elect their leaders, and as SPLM, we are committed to and also saying that we must go for elections,” anybody who talks about election, Badagbu concluded.