South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
Opposition political parties are up in arms against the exorbitant registration fees for them to fully operate in the country.
The recently reconstituted Political Parties Council (PPC) set registration fees for each political party at 50,000 U.S dollars.
Why set this fee so high? This selfish move has been interpreted by the opposition as decoy by the powerful Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) to lock them out of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
The exorbitant registration fees go against the spirit of opening up political and civic space which is a critical component of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.
Several incidents in which opposition members have been either assaulted by security forces or blocked from mobilizing activities have already occurred.
The move to hike the registration fees for political parties could be the latest plot to restrict political parties’ activities especially the opposition.
However, such a move could be challenged in a competent court of law.
Whenever, the parties to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement have been seen to make progress, they make two steps backwards which harms trust.