By William Madouk
Sudan People Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) rubbished the claim by the SPLM secretary-general that Machar’s party is afraid of the election because their winning chance is dim.
Peter Lam Both, the SPLM secretary General on Thursday blasts Dr. Riek Machar’s party for shying away from election after foreseeing oblique future.
“The signatories to peace agreement, SSOA has declared, OPP has declared, the SPLM declared, and the national agenda and its various members have also declared that they are going for elections this year,” stated Lam.
“It is the SPLM-IO that refuses the elections for whatever reason. We thought that the opposition parties should be the ones to force the ruling party to go for elections so that they take over,” he noted.
According to him, Machar’s party might have learnt about their bleak future in upcoming elections.
“At times when you see your fate, even to put a cat in the water will be difficult for you to put it there – a small cat trying to put it in the water will not go” he added “So, maybe our partners in peace are reading between the lines that there is nothing for them in elections.”
However, in rebuttal, Juol Nhomngek, a Member of Parliament under SPLM-IO, stated that the party does not shy away from election but wants the prerequisites fulfilled.
“We are not shying away from the elections, we are saying the prerequisites of free, fair and credible election must be fulfilled,” said Nhomngek.
“Let the Secretary-General fulfil today to the satisfaction of everybody, we will be the one to run ahead,” he added.
He said among the preconditions is an unfulfilled security arrangement under chapter 2 of the 2018 peace deal
“We cannot run ahead to disadvantage the public and the reason is because we don’t have one security sector,” Nhomngek noted.
“When SPLM-IO says we need those prerequisites to be met is not because they are not coming back but it is because we need citizens to the right to vote even in Bahr el Ghazal,” he asserted.
The Lawmaker hinted that any leader who loves peace would agree to SPLM-IO’s criterion for credible polls.
“We need prerequisites of free, fair and credible elections to be implemented and if they finish today, we shall go and if I lose, I will never mind but if I lose illegally then it’s not good because that is a violation of my rights,” he echoed.