By William Madouk Garang
The President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguata Museveni has called for South Sudan to go for elections, saying for the country to have a durable peace, conducting free, transparent and creditable election is the answer.
President Museveni made this call during his meeting with Speaker of Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly (R-TNLA), Jemma Nunu Kumba at State House Entebbe.
“If you conduct election, the nation will not have arguments to answer the question of ‘who and what’ regarding the governance of the country because the election minimizes argument and internal quarrel,” Museveni was quoted by Daily Monitor.
Mr. Museveni further stated that elections are an approval for legitimacy and emphasized that ‘who and what’ questions make political situation difficult.
Meanwhile, Speaker of South Sudan’s Transitional National Legislative Assembly Jemma Nunu Kumba, assured President Museveni that the country at large is currently at peace.
According to the revitalized peace agreement that was signed between President Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar in 2018, the country was positioned to go for polls at the end of transitional period in 2023.
However, many critical tasks and provisions of the peace deal such as the graduation of necessary unified forces, enactment of permanent constitution, security bill, and census among others are yet to be realized.
As clock is ticking down towards the end of transitional period with only 8 months left for elections, it’s vital to note that on 9 July the country will attain its 12th independence anniversary, unluckily it has never convened any Presidential polls since its birth in 2011.
All indication shows that general elections might be impossible, the main parties SPLM- IG under President Kiir and SPLM-IO under Deputy Riek Machar had already voiced deferent views about the anticipated 2023 elections.
With SPLM-IG is support of holding general Presidential polls on time while SPLM-IO is against it citing the pending peace tasks that are yet to be implemented.
Among those who attended the meeting with President Museveni were Speaker of Parliament of Uganda, Ms Anita and her deputy, Thomas Tayebwa.