The SPLM In Opposition said Friday it stands for the conduct of general elections in December 2024, while strongly emphasizing that conditions necessary for the conduct of free, fair and credible polls must be met.
First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, who is the group’s leader, reportedly made the remarks in a meeting with Ambassador Charles Tai Gituai, the head of peace monitoring body – Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC).
A statement from his office said the two officials discussed the peace Roadmap implementation status, with much emphasis on the security arrangements and the upcoming general elections.
“H.E. Dr. Machar assured the RJMEC Chair that he and the “SPLM (IO) are pro-elections, given that it is the endpoint of the agreement,” the statement said.
“However, the activities leading to conducting free, fair, and credible elections have not been started or are not being completed, such as security arrangements, repatriation of refugees and IDPs, conducting the census, and the permanent constitution.”
It further said the meeting discussed the need to clarify the rumored “continued movement restrictions imposed” on First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar.
SPLM-IO Deputy Chairperson Oyet Nathaniel said on September 18, 2023, that his boss Machar is not free to move and has also been denied chances to seek medical treatment outside the country.
Honorable Oyet criticized what he termed as “unfair” treatment of the first vice president, who, according to him, has been left with no choice but to turn to Juba doctors for treatment.
SPLM Secretary General Peter Lam Both later dismissed as untrue SPLM-IO claims that Machar’s movements are being restricted.
However, the group thought clarification from Gituai on who is detaining its leader, despite a communiqué from the IGAD Heads of State Summit held in Djibouti on December 20, 2020, that “underscored that currently there are no travel restrictions of any kind imposed by IGAD on the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny.”
They reiterated that Machar has been blocked from travelling several times upon invitations to the states and outside the country.
“Dr. Riek Machar, despite receiving invitations to attend international conferences in Egypt and Ivory Coast, respectively, was denied travel.”
“Recently, the First Vice President was also stopped from attending, at the invitation of the Governor of Western Bhar el Ghazal State, a conference in Wau aimed at discussing the relocation of county headquarters from Wau to Bagari, which had sparked violence in December 2012.
“It’s on this note that Rt. Hon. Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, First Deputy Speaker of the Revitalized Transitional National Legislative Assembly and Deputy Chairman of SPLM (IO), has written to RJMEC to clarify the movement restrictions that continue to be imposed on H.E. Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon.”
The meeting also revealed that the SPLM (IO) submitted the list of their nominees for the National Constitution Review Commission (NCRC) and National Election Commission (NEC) nearly two months ago to the President.
The RMJEC Chairman pledged to continue engaging with the peace parties to exert more effort in addressing the issues at hand to fast-track the implementation of the agreement.
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