By James Aniceto Batikayo
Few days before the end of last year, 2024, precisely in December, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Party Secretariat hurled crucial news through the media to the public. It was breaking news.
Seemingly the ruling political party wishes to guard against further extension of elections scheduled for the year 2026 because many people across the country are already fed up and sick of the repeated extensions over the past years.
The party secretariat cautioned the National Election Commission (NEC) to expedite the drawing of the broader picture of the election so that the public should know what to expect come the year 2026. Is it like the 2010 national and state elections, including the presidential election, all at a go? Or is it going to be diametrically different? Are we going to have the presidential election first, like in most countries of the world, to be followed by the national parliament election and the state election, then after, or what?
Holding elections at once for all levels of elections in the country, like in 2010, might seem prudent in terms of the budget proposals, but otherwise, the actual spending of funds against these budgets might be prone to unsatisfactory results. Other countries on the planet hold their elections one stage after another. Usually, the beginning is the presidential election, to be followed by the other elections on various levels as mentioned here earlier. These could be more under control in terms of expenditure against the election budget as well as in terms of security and smooth running of the elections.
By and large, the most gorgeous statement is that of the Chairman of the SPLM Party promising the long-awaited unification of the National Army to kick off straight away next month, February 2025. Moreover, the appointment of General Johnson Olony to the General Command of the SSDF, tasked with leveling off the ground for total disarmament all over the country, is a brilliant action for ensuring elections on time and opening a new page after promptly closing that of the Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
Unfortunately these days, the wind blowing from Ptomaine in Kenya, where peace talks are underway, is not very encouraging due to the restructuring of the opposition delegation to the talks, combining both military and political leaders, besides renaming itself as the United People Alliance (UPA). It appears there could be subterranean plans to replicate the Sudanese Rapid Support Militia as a force in this country. Definitely, foreign countries could flood the opposition with funds. All that would be wanted in return are resources such as gold, other minerals, and so forth. Foreigners could very well get that wealth to themselves from our newborn country from behind the back of the government, like what is now happening in Raja County of Western Bahr Ghazal State, as reported recently by senior government officials.
Instead of the negotiation at Ptomaine in Kenya pulling on and on, it will be better if all political parties meet in the constitution conference, provided for by the Transitional Constitution 2011, to look into options of constitutional drafts for the Permanent Federal Constitution of the country. The National Constitution Review Commission could appoint the Constitution Draft Committee (CDC) to write the draft permanent constitution premised on federal government systems all over the world for the conference. Upon that, the conference would table the draft before parliament for enactment, and the President of the Republic would append his signature there to be promulgated as the Permanent Constitution of South Sudan. Hence, the nation would move next year, 2026, directly to elections. It is now a waste of time for South Sudan to sit for a long time in order to correct the English language used for writing the R-ARCSS or the protocols of the UPA if people are trying to merge the two submissions in the talks. The masses of the people of South Sudan want federal rule from elections in 2026 onward. They have exercised constraint for quite long years since the colonial era. All submissions of the parties to the present peace talks for the future of the country must be about federalism and not the provisions of the R-ARCSS 2018 peace agreement and not as well about the dictates of the peace protocols of the UPA.
It is expected that the Population Census Commission would embark on its function as soon as the national budget for it is ready within this year, 2025. Without the census, demarcation of election constituencies would be untenable. However, the most unfortunate is the Political Parties Council, which is widely expected to organize the political parties that are the actual contenders of the elections in question. That should be in accordance with the law, i.e., the Political Parties Act 2012 (as amended), but the Council seems to have backed away from that and is instead facilitating breaking of the very law itself, which we have referred to. Section 7 sub-section (1) of the Act provides, I quote: “No association of persons or organization shall operate or function as a political party unless it has been registered in accordance with provisions of this Act.” Now people say there are over 60 political parties in South Sudan. Within those there are only 14 political parties registered in full in accordance with the law.
Very many of the Members of Parliament (MPs) now are members of unregistered political parties, which the law, as mentioned above, does not allow to function, let alone to have them as Members of Parliament. On the other hand, members of a good number of the parties registered according to the law are either denied participation in parliament or summarily dismissed from the parliament. Rumors say that there is a senior official ensconced in the Council of Ministers who is a regular visitor to the J-One Palace, very close to the High Office of the Land, who is doing all that. This guy uses his proximity to the high office to break the law and proudly enjoy the outcome of his actions. People are afraid to talk about him because they know what harm he could cause them.
This rumor could be untrue, but the question remains: Who is the official confidently doing this mess?
No doubt the whole world is watching how South Sudan, which is the last-born nation, could navigate its way, conduct its first elections, and build its democracy. People in South Sudan are also looking forward to seeing their government drawing up to them soon enough the bigger picture of those elections. God Bless.