Six weeks before the planned 22 December elections, an opposition leader says parties are afraid to announce candidates without protection and need permission to leave Juba. Voter registration materials have arrived in Western Bahr el Ghazal, but registration has not begun.
Security concerns and restrictions on political movement are preventing South Sudan's political parties from preparing for the elections planned for 22 December, an opposition leader and civil society figures told Eye Radio in a programme published on Saturday 7 November.
Paulino Lokudu, leader of the United South Sudan Party, said parties had candidates ready but some would not announce them because there were no security arrangements for them. "Now, the parties have candidates, but some parties cannot announce their candidates, because, for example, you announce you are the presidential candidate of your party. This person automatically needs security," he said. He also objected to rules requiring political leaders to seek approval before travelling outside Juba: "I cannot move because I may need approval. Every time I want to go, I must get approval." He called on the National Elections Commission (NEC) to brief parties regularly and on state media to give all parties equal coverage.
Ador Akoy of the South Sudan Human Rights Defenders Network said restricting movement violated a constitutional right and limited voters' ability to make informed choices. Patrick Godi, a youth representative at the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), said the transitional security arrangements had collapsed and the security context was "fractured", and questioned whether there was enough time to complete voter registration and candidate nominations.
Materials arrive in Wau
Western Bahr el Ghazal has received voter registration materials, including 70 cartons of registration books, pens and uniforms for registration staff, which arrived at Wau airport on Thursday, the state NEC chairperson, Arkangelo Udo Agany, told Radio Tamazuj. He urged residents not to believe rumours on social media, said the elections would go ahead and said registration would begin at centres assessed in July once the NEC issued instructions. Registration has not yet started.
On 6 November NEC commissioner Josephine Achiro Fortelo told Eye Radio that an online registration link circulating on social media was fake, that registration would be in person only, and that no decision had yet been made on voting by South Sudanese abroad.
Context
The December vote would be South Sudan's first general election since independence in 2011, after repeated postponements under the 2018 peace agreement. The RJMEC has warned about its credibility, the trial of First Vice-President Riek Machar continues, and Sudan objects to the NEC's inclusion of Abyei in electoral constituencies.
Image: Huts on the outskirts of Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal. Bertramz, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.