Members of the Coalition for Restoration of Democracy (CORD) pictured with U.S. officials. (-)

Six political parties based outside the country have launched the Coalition for Restoration of Democracy (CORD) in a bid to contest the country’s leadership in the 2024 general elections.

The group comprises the Revive South Sudan Party (RSSP), Common People Alliance (CPA), SPLM-IO Kitgwang, Steps We64, United Citizens for Change (UCC), and the Red Army of South Sudan.

The alliance said it met in Washington DC, the capital of the United States, and decided to form a unified front to “champion the aspiration of South Sudanese for a prosperous future.”

“We the undersigned from different political movements, met between October 12 and 14 in the Washington DC and agreed to establish the Coalition for Restoration of Democracy (CORD) to champion the cause of peaceful and democratic transition in South Sudan,” reads a press statement dated October 19, 2023.

“We call upon other political forces and civil society groups in South Sudan to join us in efforts to work towards a free and democratic South Sudan,” it added.

One of its members and exiled political activist Peter Biar Ajak says the alliance is intending to “field only one candidate” to stand for president in South Sudan’s first general elections.

The political alliance said it expresses concerns about the inadequate political will to implement the 2018 Revitalized Agreement which could prepare the nation for what it terms as genuine and credible democratic election.

President Salva Kiir has always complained that he is tired of a bloated transitional government with five vice presidents while countering views opposing the conduct of elections.

At a rally in Wau city of Western Bahr el Ghazal State, President Kiir told his SPLM party members and supporters to work and ensure there is no extension of the transitional period.

Other political parties presumably the opposition, including SPLM-IO, have also yielded to the need to hold elections as the way to transition towards democracy, but emphasize that crucial pending provision of the 2018 deal must be implemented.