By Lodu William Odiya
The United Opposition Parties (UOPP) has called for an opportunity to reshuffle its representatives within the transitional government, arguing that the move is necessary to strengthen its participation in the peace implementation process.
Speaking to the media over the weekend, Peter Mayen Majongdit, chairperson of the UOPP said the proposed changes would enhance efficiency, accountability, and effective representation.
“We have our position in the presidency but they have taken them away. We are not Umbrella for the community; we need our power back. Time for eating is over, give our position so that we appoint people we need” he said.
The UOPP added that the members reject any further extension of transitional period, calling on the Ministry of finance to allocate funds for the election processes.
“We are tired of extension after extension. Return the powers for the citizen back, the NEC said they are ready as long as the funding is made available”. He stated.
Mayen explained that there are number of countries that has come out from revolutionary backgrounds, faced very serious challenges when it comes to democratic transformation where citizens could transform themselves into democratic political parties and eventually usher in a democratic society.
“We have studied cases of them, we have studied the case of South Africa, we have also studied the case of Tanzania, and we have studied the case of Kenya. We have also taken examples of where a new emerging party like ours can be able to come in and impact significant change and even achieve a democratic transformation” he highlighted.
The chairperson also stated that they had come to find out once you have a party that believes in peace, therefore the insecurity automatically will disappear, because it will always seek dialogue and peaceful resolutions in order to resolve issues, rather than resorting to violence.
“If a party is a non-violent party, and therefore will not always have the options of confrontations used by means of violence, even against those who have gone wrong to them. So, they will always find dialogue, peaceful solutions” Mayen said.
He said that the party have witnessed, and many people are very much aware that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management has been allocated since then to the umbrella of political parties.
“If a member of an umbrella of political parties, for any given reason has been removed, then the position still belongs to the party and should be occupied by the party. And the party should be allowed to be able to do the nominations for any members that way” he said.
South Sudan’s general election is scheduled for 22 December 2026, marking the country’s first national vote since independence in 2011 and repeated postponements due to civil war and political deadlock.
Voters will elect the president, national and state assemblies under a system mixing constituency and proportional representation.
Preparations are underway amid ongoing conflict, peace deal implementation challenges, and opposition concerns about fairness and security ahead of the polls.