R-JMEC urges consensus on elections

JUBA – South Sudan’s peace monitoring body, Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) has called on the parties to the 2018 peace deal to build consensus on conduct of elections.

Speaking during the monthly plenary on Thursday in Juba, R-JMEC interim chairperson, Maj. General Charles Tai Gituai, urged the parties and stakeholders to build consensus on the way forward on elections and provide regular updates to the public on the progress of the dialogue.

“Continue sustained dialogue in a collegial manner, and build consensus among the Parties, and the stakeholders on the way forward on elections and provide regular updates to the public on the progress of the dialogue,” Gituai said.

Gituai said it is barely seven months to the elections, and there is still no evidence of sufficient preparation for the conduct of elections and implementation of critical election-related tasks.

“As you may recall, in March this year, RJMEC wrote to the Executive of the RTGoNU expressing its concerns on the lack of consensus on the prospects of conducting credible elections as scheduled in December 2024, and called for urgent inter-party dialogue on the way forward, in the spirit of collegiality and consensus, as per the requirement of the R-ARCSS,” said Gituai.

The retired Kenyan general stressed the need to implement the outstanding tasks including the drafting of a national constitution, implementation of full security arrangements as well as operationalization and funding of the Political Parties Council, the National Elections Commission, and the National Constitutional Review Commission.

“Overall, it is important to underline that four years into the Transitional Period, relative progress has been made in the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement,” he said.

“All efforts should therefore be made to consolidate the peace gains, and lay a firm foundation for lasting peace, development and prosperity for the people of South Sudan,” he added.

He called on the government to avail the requisite resources and logistics to the Agreement institutions and mechanisms to enable them to discharge their mandates.

“It is therefore important that the interparty dialogue be expedited to provide clarity on the way forward. This would help the South Sudanese to prepare sufficiently and enable timely mobilisation of resources by the regional and international community to support the process,” he said.