Aweil: SSOA member warns of sham elections

SSOA's Atong Leek. (Photo: Radio Tamazuj)

A leading member of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) in Aweil town in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State has warned that the upcoming elections scheduled for December 2024 will not be free and fair if the peace agreement is not properly implemented.

Atong Leek, who serves as the deputy chairperson of the Commission for Conflict Resolution in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, said that the elections will fail because key provisions in the peace agreement have not been implemented.

The peace deal which was reached in Khartoum, Sudan in September 2018, was signed by the Government of South Sudan, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) and the non-armed political group known as the Other Political Parties (OPP).

In a statement to Radio Tamazuj over the weekend, Leek said the South Sudanese People are monitoring the poor implementation of the peace agreement and warned that the elections will fail because key benchmarks have not been met.

“What is happening in the peace process is known to all South Sudanese and not to SSOA alone. We all know that the peace agreement was signed by the warring parties in 2018 and has eight chapters which were supposed to be implemented in three years but up to now we have not even implemented six chapters,” she said. “The deployment of the unified forces has not been done and as SSOA, we are still reorganizing our ranks. If the people rush for the elections without full implementation of the peace agreement’s provisions, and even if they (elections) are held, they will not be free and fair.”

Leek cited the absence of a reconstituted National Elections Commission, delays in holding a population census, and the lack of a body to register political parties among others as issues that are still pending.

When asked if they will join the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the future, she said it is impossible to merge with the ruling party because her group has eight armed parties which took part in the peace talks and are members of the coalition government.

“I want to tell you that the SSOA is not a single party, it is an umbrella of eight parties and it is unlawful for the parties that took part in peace talks, signed the peace, and have their objectives to leave and join the ruling party,” Leek said. “What will make us join the SPLM and yet we have our share in the government and are represented by Vice President Abdelbagi Akol and other officials at the national assembly, state, and county levels? We are not merging with the SPLM but working for a prosperous South Sudan.”