The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)—the country’s ruling party—has pledged to double efforts to speed up the implementation of a revitalised peace agreements to pave the way for elections in 2023.

The SPLM’s interim Secretary-General, Peter Lam Both, revealed this after a meeting with the party’s deputy chairman, Dr James Wani Igga, who also serves as vice president for the economic cluster.

Lam said there were a few critical things that must be completed to increase the country’s chances of holding the 2023 general elections.

“We came to the deputy chairman of the party to discuss the issue of implementation of the revitalised agreement. “We, the SPLM, believe that there was a need to first track some aspects of the agreement to allow us to reach the level of elections next year,” said Lam.

The unification of forces, the passing of a permanent constitution, and the enactment of the South Sudan election act formed the basis of the discussion.

“We need to fast-track the issues of unification of forces and the constitutional transition needs to be passed immediately by the assembly,” he said, adding, “The political party act needs to be passed by the assembly, [since] it has already been passed by the council of ministers,” Lam said.

“We also need to initiate the election act as well as discuss the issue of bringing stability to our country by addressing some of the fundamental security matters.”

Lam touched on the security issues, saying the influx of cattle in the Equatoria region, which has led to bloodshed, needs to be addressed.

He said that the SPLM is convinced that the cattle keepers must return to their places of origin.

He also said that the Abyei conflict would soon be resolved since the president had formed a high-level committee to address the issues.

“These are the issues that are related to the insecurity that can hinder elections.”

“That is why SPLM is saying that we need to stop that and resolve it so that the country can become peaceful for next year’s elections. “