South Sudan parties reaffirm December election timetable as preparations lag

South Sudan’s political parties agreed at the close of an inter-party dialogue on October 7 to keep the country’s first general election since independence on a December 22 timetable. The agreement, reported by Deutsche Welle, is a commitment to that date, while voter registration has yet to begin and officials have identified obstacles to holding a credible vote.

The two-week dialogue involved 39 parties. Albino Akol Atak, its deputy rapporteur and the minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management, told Deutsche Welle the parties had agreed unanimously to follow the election timeline. ‘The election train has left the station, and it has no reverse gear,’ he said, while describing work to clear obstacles before polling day.

The October 7 agreement follows years of delays to South Sudan’s transition. The transitional period under a 2018 peace agreement has been extended several times, according to the Associated Press. The scheduled vote would be the country’s first general election since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

What remains to be done before South Sudan’s vote

The National Elections Commission says voter registration has not started and that it has released no registration statistics. It says it will announce registration dates, centres and required documents through official channels. Its statement gives no timetable that would establish when voters can begin enrolling ahead of December 22.

Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro told Deutsche Welle that delayed funding could affect civic education and election infrastructure. He also said the National Election Act did not clearly reflect the country’s three administrative areas, leaving their participation without a clear legal framework. Those are issues he identified as relevant to acceptance of the election outcome.

Lomuro said unified security forces had not been fully deployed. He described security readiness as necessary throughout the process, from campaign rallies and polling stations to voting, counting and the transmission of results. Deutsche Welle also reported unfinished security reforms, flooding and displacement as potential barriers to reaching polling stations.

Political parties have until October 22 to present their manifestos and register, Deutsche Welle reported. That deadline concerns the parties’ preparations; it does not supply a start date for voter registration or resolve the questions raised by ministers about funding, law and security.

Parties disagree over the dialogue’s political conditions

Changkuoth Bichok Reath, secretary general of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance, told Deutsche Welle that an election on December 22 would require coordinated and inclusive action by national institutions, political parties, security actors and civil society. He called for outstanding legal issues to be resolved and for parties to receive funding to meet election requirements.

The dialogue’s inclusiveness had already drawn criticism. Radio Tamazuj reported on September 28 that South Sudan’s Communist Party called the talks a government-controlled process that could not provide meaningful space to address the political crisis. Its secretary-general, Joseph Wol Modest, argued for broader political participation and conditions in which people could speak without fear.

Radio Tamazuj reported that the talks began in Juba on September 24. The Communist Party’s criticism records one party’s position during the dialogue; the available reporting does not establish how widely other parties or voters share it. Deutsche Welle also reported that some civil society groups had been left out of the talks.

How the transition reached the December deadline

President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional government, legislature, state governments and authorities in three administrative areas on September 22, according to the Associated Press, and appointed caretaker ministers. AP described the change as part of the roadmap toward elections. It preceded the dialogue, which then brought parties together to discuss the approaching vote.