Election mandatory, says Dr Lam
The chairman of National Democratic Movement (NDM) Dr. Lam Akol said election for South Sudanese is a must-do if the leaders have one voice.
“It’s not the question of whether we like elections or not. It’s a must if we are true to the spirit and letter of the peace agreement,” Dr. Lam said.
He made remarks yesterday after the meeting with the Speaker of the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly, Jemma Nunu Kumba, to discuss the process of the implementation of the peace agreement.
Dr. Lam said their discussion focused on the election due to ongoing public debates about whether or not the elections will be done.
“There are a lot of debates on whether the election is going to take place in December 2024 or it should not take place,” he stated.
“Election is not an isolated item. It’s part of the requirement of the peace agreement. It’s the endpoint of the peace agreement; it’s the exit point of the peace agreement that the transitional period can only end in an election,” he said.
“We discussed how the implementation process of the peace agreement is going on and how it can be speeded up,” Dr. Lam explained.
He noted that their demand as the parties to the agreement is to have dialogue as political parties on how to approach the election process because it cannot be done by only one party. According to him, they hope to sit and discuss the matter.
Meanwhile, John Agany, the parliament spokesperson, said they also discussed the roles of the parliament in decision-making process, legislation powers and what should the parliament do to push the government to go for the national election.
“Dr. Lam is one of the well-informed elements in our country, he has a lot of information as to what should be done in the country and the participation of the partners to the peace agreement should be something to correspond with,” Agany said.
On August 2023, Dr. Lam returned to Juba after spending three years outside the country to support the implementation of the peace agreement.
