Kiir says ‘peace and stability’ needed for conduct of transparent elections

JUBA, JULY 8, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Saturday night called on the country’s citizens to engage in collective efforts to bring peace and stability as the world’s youngest country is set to mark 12 years of independence.

South Sudan will on Sunday mark 12 years since obtaining independence from Sudan in July 2011. Since 2013, South Sudan has been in a deadly conflict that has killed more than half a million citizens and displaced millions of others.

In the televised address on the eve of independence anniversary, Kiir called for permanent “peace and stability” in order to allow return of the millions of citizens displaced by war and for peaceful elections to take place.

“The key words in this year’s address are ‘peace and stability’. We need stability in order to allow our people to voluntarily return home from refugee and IDP camps, to allow our people reconcile and for the government to be able to hold credible elections,” he said.

“Achieving peace and stability is the only way that will allow us to exit from the cycle of transitional governments and violence once and for all. To this effect, I am calling upon you, my fellow citizens to work with the peace partners and my colleagues in government collectively for peace and stability in our country,” he added.

Kiir also acknowledged the challenges that the country has faced in implementing the revitalized peace agreement but, then said that the parties – once bitter enemies – have chosen peaceful path to resolve these challenges without resorting to violence.

“Since 2018, we have encountered and continue to encounter challenges in the implementation of the R-ARCSS,” he said. “Fortunately for us, none of these challenges affected our intention to implement the Agreement. Each time we faced hurdles, we managed to resolve them peacefully through dialogue.”