By Spy Uganda Correspondent
A group of South Sudanese lawyers filed a case to the country’s top court on Monday challenging the president’s postponement of elections and extension of the transitional government’s term for two more years.
Ten days ago, President Salva Kiir’s office announced an extension of the transitional period by two years and postponed elections following a similar delay in 2022.
Late last week, parliament ratified the decision without changes after the cabinet endorsed it. Elections were due to be held in December.
On Monday, the lawyers challenging the action went to the Supreme Court, asking it to declare the decision “null and void.”
“Our petition challenges the legality and constitutionality of the government’s decision to extend the transitional period by 24 months. We firmly believe that this extension is unconstitutional and illegal, as it undermines the commitment to conduct national elections within the originally agreed-upon time frame.” he added.
The petitioners said they will follow up the matter with further submissions next Wednesday.
“Through this legal action, we seek a declaration from the Court that the extension of the transitional period is unconstitutional, null, and void. Additionally, we are requesting that the Court order the government to proceed with elections within the stipulated time, honouring the constitutional mandate and the expectations of the people of South Sudan.” he further noted.
This is the second time the country, which gained independence in 2011, is postponing elections and extending a transitional period that started in February 2020.
President Salva Kiir and his former rival turned deputy, Riek Machar, signed a peace agreement in 2018 that ended a five-year civil war in which more than 400,000 people died.
While announcing the postponement, Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro said the extension followed recommendations from both electoral institutions and the security sector.
Last month, the chairperson of National Election Commission, Professor Abednego Akok, told the media that the country was behind the electoral calendar, which required voter registration to have started in June but was still pending due to a shortage of funds.
The country is going through an economic crisis that has seen civil servants go unpaid for almost one year, after it’s oil exports were affected by a damaged pipeline in war-torn neighbouring Sudan through which it exports.
The Tumaini initiative peace talks that have been going on in neighbouring Kenya, believed to provide a foundation for the inclusion of non-signatory groups to sustain peace, have also stalled.
A new security act that allows for warrantless detentions became law in August despite concerns from human rights groups that it would create fear in the runup to the elections.
Andrea Mach Mabior, an independent political analyst, warned that any sham elections may result in a waste of resources and chaos.
“Going for elections that do not meet international standards will be a waste of money,” Mabior told the media.
But others like Edmund Yakani, executive director of the Community Empowerment Progress Organization, said delays to the elections or any extension of the transitional period would create a possibility of violence erupting across the fragile country.
“If we fail to conduct the elections in December 2024 the chance of the country turning into violence is higher than if we go for the elections,” Yakani told the media last month.
The country, which has gone through the shocks of civil war and climate change is in need of humanitarian aid with an estimated 9 million people — 73% of the country’s population — projected to be in need of humanitarian assistance during 2024, according to the 2024 UN Humanitarian Needs Overview for South Sudan.
