Prepare for elections, or risk ‘bad result’, ANC party warns

The Secretary-General of the African Congress (ANC) party has urged the parties to the agreement to act swiftly and prepare for elections to avoid “bad results.”

Albino Akol Atak, who is also the spokesperson of Other Political Parties, said there is a need for political will from the parties to the agreement to prepare for a credible, free and fair election.

He said the parties should ensure key tasks for holding an election are completed on time.

“They are necessary and must be done or else we shall produce a bad result,” Albino said.

A 2018 peace agreement resulted in power-sharing, leading to the formation of the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity in February 2020, with Salva Kiir as the President and Dr Riek Machar as the First Vice President, as well as the other four vice presidents.

However, the key tasks of the peace deal have mostly gone unimplemented.

Albino said for South Sudan to go ahead with the elections, the country needs some issues to be put in place according to the agreement.

“The final product of the 2018 agreement is to transition the whole country to a new era through elections. But before the elections, the agreement must be implemented. “Within the implementation of the agreement, there are those issues that are very important to prepare the ground for credible, free, and fair elections,” he explained.

Full implementation of security arrangements, according to Albino, means that the forces of the parties that have signed the agreement are unified.

“Because without unifying these forces, it means the situation is fragile. It means every small dispute over procedures of elections or even over the results of the elections would mean confrontation, and this confrontation would involve armed confrontation. “

Army needed

He stressed that the country needs one army that will work to protect all citizens, parties, and political groups.

Albino said the permanent constitution must be a public-driven activity that allows all citizens to participate.

“The constitution is critical for a free and fair election.”

He warned that failure to implement some critical parts of the agreement could reverse the peace dividends that the country has already gained and put an end to all political conflicts in the country.

 “If we want political stability in this country, we have to implement the clauses of the agreement, so that the implementation of these clauses will take us to a complete readiness to carry out a credible election which will put an end to all these political conflicts,” Albino stressed.

 Ready for elections

The ANC political party has been in existence for seven years. According to Albino, his party is one of the 14 officially recognised parties in the country.

“ANC was registered according to the Political Parties Act 2012, and it was the first political party to register,” he said.

“It is organised and legible to participate in elective politics.

“The 2018 agreement states that all political parties must be reviewed and then those that have not registered must register,” said Albino.

“It means those that have not registered out of the 14 must register; it is those that have not registered that will have to follow the revised political party.”

Asked if the ANC was ready for elections, Albino said the ANC is legally ready to participate, adding that the ANC party has a presence in all 10 states, including the administrative areas. “It means we exist at the grassroots,” he said.

However, the number of political parties that have not registered is not unknown, and there are over 60 political parties in the country.

John Agany, the chairperson of information, communication technology, and postal service, concurred with Albino that for any political party to participate in an election, they must be registered.

“Any party that does not register will not be recognised.”

However, he differed with Albino on the number of registered political parties in the country.

“When we get the correct number of parties, that is the date when you will register, and that is when we can announce that South Sudan today has this number of parties. It will be later on when they have registered, then you will come to say they are 50, they are 80, they are 100, whatever number,” he said

John said the political parties act needs to be reviewed, saying it has already been submitted to the council of ministers.

“We have the Constitution amendment bill and it has been submitted to the administrative unit of the national assembly,” he said.

“The security bill is still pending because the process is pending review from the national council of the ministers “a few articles need to be amended and this would take two to three weeks,” John added.