The SPLM-IG recently convened a meeting in Central Equatoria State chaired by Vice President Dr. James Wani Igga, the First Deputy Chairman of the SPLM-IG and Chairperson of the Economic Cluster, to prepare for elections in the state.
First of all, the peace agreement clearly states that elections should be conducted at the end of the transitional period, after key provisions have been implemented. These include the completion of security arrangements, the drafting of a permanent constitution, a national population census, boundary demarcation, and other critical reforms.
However, the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) was effectively abrogated and violated when Dr. Riek Machar was placed under house arrest and SPLM-IO representatives were subsequently removed from the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU). These actions have paralyzed the functioning of the unity government.
The SPLM-IG later formed a broad-based leadership committee led by Hon. Akol Paul Kordit to amend the R-ARCSS by delinking certain provisions in order to conduct national elections in December 2026. In reality, the committee failed after the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JEMC) refused to table its proposals.
Following meetings of the United Nations Security Council in New York and the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUC5) in Addis Ababa, the international community resolved that South Sudan must return to an inclusive dialogue, including the unconditional release of political detainees.
Despite this, the SPLM-IG formed another committee under Hon. Tut Gatluak, the Presidential Advisor on Security Affairs. A few individuals were selected to represent the SPLM-IO. In reality, the committee cannot be considered inclusive. The SPLM-IO under Dr. Riek Machar did not nominate anyone because its chairman remains under house arrest and is reportedly being tried at Freedom Hall.
For these reasons, peace must come to South Sudan before any elections are held in 2026. Any initiative for peace that is not inclusive will fail from the outset.
The R-ARCSS is already in a critical condition after the unilateral decision to place First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar under house arrest. The people of South Sudan are tired of ongoing and senseless conflict. Since February 2025, the SPLM-IO has been calling for an inclusive dialogue jointly led by President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar.
The recent SPLM-IG meeting in Central Equatoria State, organized by the state governor to discuss elections scheduled for December, appears misguided. I would like to make it categorically clear to the people of South Sudan that national elections should not become a talking point in Juba while the country lacks genuine peace.
The elections provided for in the R-ARCSS were meant to be the endgame of the peace process. They cannot be reduced to a one-party agenda used to lecture citizens in Juba on a daily basis. The SPLM-IG government must first end the ongoing crisis and return the country to peace.
I believe all signatory parties to the R-ARCSS are ready to face the SPLM-IG in elections if there is genuine political will. Attempts to amend the peace agreement have already been rejected by the R-JEMC, the African Union, and the United Nations Security Council.
Instead of prolonging the transition, the government should release Dr. Riek Machar and allow political competition to take place in a peaceful environment. The people of South Sudan are tired of an oversized unity government that was initially proposed during negotiations in Addis Ababa.
The United States government under President Donald Trump should urgently appoint a Special Envoy to South Sudan to help break the current political deadlock and bring the parties back to the negotiating table based on the R-ARCSS framework. Similarly, the Chairperson of the African Union should appoint a respected former African head of state as a special envoy to mediate among the parties to the agreement.
There can be no credible election in South Sudan without peace. The country must end political divisions, tribal politics, and ethnic lobbying, and return to the R-ARCSS framework. Promoting elections while the country remains trapped in unresolved conflict risks undermining the legitimacy of the R-TGONU.
The SPLM-IG must respect the ceasefire and release all political detainees, including First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, in order to allow South Sudan to move toward genuine democratic competition among political parties in 2026.
The writer, Dut Majokdit, is the former Chairperson of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State (Aweil) and a member of the SPLM-IO Political Bureau. He can be reached at: Majokdit2024@gmail.com.
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