{"id":45586,"date":"2026-06-23T17:03:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=45586"},"modified":"2026-06-23T17:03:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T15:03:35","slug":"civil-society-raises-concerns-as-south-sudan-declares-22-december-2026-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/23\/civil-society-raises-concerns-as-south-sudan-declares-22-december-2026-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil Society raises concerns as South Sudan declares 22 December 2026 election"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The executive director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO), Edmond Yakani, has welcomed the official declaration of 22 December 2026 as South Sudan\u2019s election polling day but warned that significant legal, political, and operational challenges remain ahead of the historic vote.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Juba following the announcement by the National Elections Commission (NEC), Yakani described the declaration as an important milestone in the country\u2019s electoral journey and noted that the commission had fulfilled its legal obligation to announce the polling date six months before voting.<\/p>\n

According to Yakani, the declaration marks a historic step toward South Sudan\u2019s first general election under the transitional arrangements.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, the country has been officially declared ready to go to polling stations on 22 December 2026 as required by law,\u201d Yakani said.<\/p>\n

However, he expressed concern that the NEC did not provide an update on the final voter registration list, which he argued should have been available alongside the election date announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe final list of registered voters is not ready, and this raises serious concerns regarding the status of voter registration as the country moves toward the election,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yakani further pointed to legal uncertainties that could affect preparations for the elections, particularly regarding electoral constituencies and parliamentary representation.<\/p>\n

He explained that authorities appear set to rely on the 2010 constituency arrangements while operating under the amended National Elections Act of 2023, which provides for a parliament of 332 seats compared to the 204-seat structure under previous arrangements.<\/p>\n

He urged lawmakers to urgently address legal gaps to strengthen the National Elections Commission\u2019s ability to organise elections within the legal framework.<\/p>\n

The civil society leader also linked the election preparations to the broader implementation of the 2018 agreement, warning that incomplete implementation of the peace deal could undermine electoral credibility.<\/p>\n

He highlighted ongoing insecurity, economic constraints, inadequate funding for election activities, and shrinking civic space as major obstacles.<\/p>\n

Yakani referenced recent concerns over restrictions on civic participation, arguing that creating conditions for peaceful and credible elections requires stronger political commitment.<\/p>\n

He called on political leaders and parties signatory to the peace agreement to engage in an urgent and inclusive political dialogue in line with recommendations emerging from recent regional consultations and assessment missions.<\/p>\n

According to Yakani, political consensus among stakeholders remains essential to prevent disputes and create a conducive environment for peaceful elections.<\/p>\n

He stressed that the timely release of funding to the electoral commission and a renewed commitment to peace implementation are necessary to avoid violations of electoral law and ensure a peaceful, credible, and non-violent election process.<\/p>\n

South Sudan\u2019s transitional authorities previously committed to conducting elections on 22 December 2026 following resolutions adopted during political consultations in September 2024.<\/p>\n

The commitment was presented as part of efforts to conclude the transitional period without further extensions.<\/p>\n

The National Elections Commission\u2019s announcement of the polling date now marks the beginning of the final six-month countdown toward the planned vote.<\/p>\n

However, concerns remain among observers and civil society groups regarding preparedness, completion of voter registration, legal reforms, security conditions, funding, and implementation of the peace agreement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco The executive director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO), Edmond Yakani, has welcomed the official declaration of 22 December 2026 as South Sudan\u2019s election polling day but warned that significant legal, political, and operational challenges remain ahead of the historic vote. Speaking in Juba following[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Edmond-Yakani-Executive-Director-of-the-Community-Empowerment-for-Progress-Organization-\u2013-CEPO-courtesy-photo.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45587,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45586\/revisions\/45587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}