By Yiep Joseph
After parading for years, vowing that elections must take place, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) has finally swallowed its pride and acknowledged the delay, along with the extension of the Transitional Period to 2026.
In a press conference following the Presidency’s decision to prolong the current government’s tenure, SPLM Secretary General Peter Lam Both explained the decision behind the party’s acceptance of the postponement.
Lam revealed that the SPLM’s decision was influenced by several reports from electoral bodies and financial institutions.
He noted that after extensive consultations with the mechanisms responsible for conducting the elections, it became clear that lack of funding posed a significant obstacle.
He said insufficient resources were a major challenge in moving forward with the electoral process.
“The institutions of finance were asked whether they have the funds necessary to conduct elections this year; the answer from them was, they do not have money. Because of that reason, it became difficult now for us as SPLM to say to people that let us go for elections when there is no money to go for it. That is what made the change for us to accept an 18-month extension as SPLM,” Lam said.
The secretary-general reiterated that the SPLM party remains committed to the election and urged the members to support the decision as the country looks for election funds.
Lam revealed that the party remains as they were not for extension.
“Now for us as SPLM and as Secretary General, I find it difficult to talk about extensions because we have been for elections,” he said.
Lam expressed that the country would surely engage in getting resources to conduct the election.
“We must look for money from now till February 2025 so that these mechanisms can do their work and the election can take place on 22 December 2026,” he said.
He further explained that if the government secures funding, they are ready for the elections, stressing the need for an election.
“If we receive funding even today, we can go for the election. Let’s double our efforts to secure the necessary funds,” he stated.
He emphasized that the SPLM party cannot finance the election, underscoring that it is the government’s responsibility to provide funding.
“If there are people who think that SPLM has compromised, we have not compromised; the issue is that the government does not have the funds to run the election,” he said.
Last week, the Presidency announced an extension of the transitional period and the postponement of elections originally scheduled for December 2024 to D3c3mb34 2026.
Past promises
President Salva Kiir, while in Northern Bahr el Ghazal once said that the general elections would go ahead as scheduled, ruling out any move to extend the current transitional government after the expiry of the roadmap.
“How many transitional governments have we formed so far? That is not good, and by the end of this roadmap, we must go for the elections, and any person who loses the elections must not blame anyone,” President Kiir was quoted in 2022.
“My government will go for elections after the transitional period and no more extension of the transitional government,” Kiir added
In a separate event, Peter Lam Both, the SPLM party secretary general, underscored that no political party has the right to frustrate the programmed elections in December 2024.
Addressing an SPLM event in 2023, Lam expressed that no party has the right to suspend elections, adding that the election must take place in 2024 as stated in the roadmap.
“But they have no right to stop and suspend an election. We believe in the SPLM, and in the next two to three months, we will fully implement the prerequisites for the conduct of elections,” he said.
In what would have been a firm stance on the elections, the SPLM appears to have backed down, now awaiting an opportunity in the coming months to regain its momentum.