Kiir Opens Election Talks, Rules Out Further Delays to South Sudan Vote

President Salva Kiir (Photo Credit: Chimp Reports)

JUBA: South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has opened talks among political parties on how to conduct elections in December, saying they had agreed to avoid another extension of the country’s transition period.

“Indeed, we agreed with all parties to the R-ARCSS to avoid further extensions and chose the option of a general election,” Kiir said in a statement delivered at Thursday’s launch of the dialogue.

R-ARCSS refers to the 2018 peace agreement that established the transition.

Kiir said the talks should help produce a plan for a peaceful and credible vote, but warned participants against reopening decisions already made.

“This inter-party dialogue is not a place for negotiations and disagreements. It is not a place to shift the direction of the path that we have taken. It is not a place to hold us back,” he said.

“Its main purpose is for all of us to agree on a path to a peaceful and credible elections.”

South Sudan has scheduled general elections for Dec. 22.

They would be the country’s first since independence in 2011, after repeated postponements attributed to conflict and delays in implementing the peace agreement.

Kiir set out four areas of preparation: electoral laws, administration and logistics, security, and political dialogue.

“The first is the legal roadmap, which has now been achieved,” he said, adding that the administrative and security preparations were “also progressing well”.

He said the fourth area was “this dialogue on election-related matters”, but stressed that any plan emerging from the talks must comply with existing law.

“This inter-party dialogue must focus strictly on election-related matters,” Kiir said.

“However, we must not contradict what the election laws have put in place.”

Earlier this week, Kiir signed amendments removing requirements to complete a permanent constitution and national census before the vote.

He also dissolved the transitional government, steps intended to advance the long-delayed election.

The timetable remains disputed. Opposition leader Riek Machar, who faces treason charges, has been suspended as first vice president, while his movement has warned that unresolved political disputes and fighting could make an election dangerous.

Kiir’s replacement of the National Elections Commission chair this month has also prompted questions about preparations less than three months before polling day.

Kiir thanked regional leaders for their support, including Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, and urged South Sudanese religious leaders and civil society representatives taking part in the talks to remain within their mandate.

“You deliberate respectfully and never overstep your mandate of discussing election related matters,” he said.

Source: https://chimpreports.com/kiir-opens-election-talks-rules-out-further-delays-to-south-sudan-vote/