South Sudan needs 2 more years to prepare for elections – UN chief

JUBA – The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that South Sudan will – from now – need two more years beyond the timeline provided for in the revitalized peace agreement, to conduct credible, free and fair elections.

Based on the revitalized peace agreement signed in 2018, the war-torn South Sudan shall conduct elections 60 days before the end of the transitional period which is supposed to be 2022. Government officials have given different accounts of as to when the election should take place with some suggesting 2023 or 2024.

In March this, the UN Security Council in its resolution 2567/2021 requested the Secretary-general to conduct a needs assessment for conduct of South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, and reports back by July 15, 2021.

Since then, a team of United Nations experts  has been conducting electoral needs assessment meetings and traveled to Juba, Malakal and Addis Ababa from 6 to 26 May to meet with key interlocutors, namely the Government of South Sudan, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, the interim National Election Commission, civil society, political parties, the media, the diplomatic community and a wide range of other stakeholders.

In his report, the Secretary-General reported to the Security Council, according to a report obtained by Sudans Post, that “while aspirations for peaceful and credible elections run high in South Sudan, they are tempered by ubiquitous concerns over a fragile security situation and a challenging political and socioeconomic environment.”

The report said “The holding of elections could be a turning point for South Sudan” and the finding states that “for elections to enjoy broad public trust and lead to a peaceful acceptance of the results, the political and electoral system in South Sudan should be consistent with the rule of law and human rights and provide defeated candidates with an incentive to continue to participate.”

“To that end, efforts would need to be made to reduce the high stakes, renounce the politics of exclusion and avoid a winner-takes-all political and electoral system. This would require strengthening the system of checks and balances within the Government, introducing mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights for all, ensuring a genuine role for the opposition by holding consultations outside parliament, examining how national resources are distributed, and tackling other structural grievances,” it says.

“The constitutional and legal reforms envisioned in the peace agreement provide an important opportunity for meaningful participatory decision-making that will affect how elections are implemented and the results ultimately accepted,” it adds.

The report also says: “Electoral operations in South Sudan will be extremely complex and lengthy, given the infrastructure challenges, security concerns, inability to access large parts of the country during the rainy season, illiteracy rate and difficulty for many South Sudanese to prove their age and citizenship.”

“In particular, if national and sub-national elections are held simultaneously, with the existing electoral systems requiring eight different ballot papers, the challenges will increase exponentially for the electoral administration, political parties, candidates and voters.”

In regards to the electoral timeline, the recommends that “within two years prior to the holding of elections, progress be made on (a) an agreement on the legal and security framework for elections, including the electoral system, boundary delimitation, special measures for internally displaced persons, refugees, out-of-country voting, dispute resolution mechanisms and election observation, as well as on the type and level of elections to be held; (b) an agreement on the composition and functioning of the National Election Commission and the designation of its members, both in Juba and at the sub-national level; and (c) the allocation of resources for the operating costs of  the National Election Commission and a budget for elections operations.”

“The parties to the peace process will likely rely on the assistance of the United Nations, the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the Troika (the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Norway), the European Union and others to move forward,” it adds, before saying “The ongoing cooperation to support the implementation of the peace agreement will assume even greater importance in the context of elections. The electoral needs assessment team noted that the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is uniquely placed to play a coordinating role amongst regional and international partners and ensure an effective alignment of good offices and technical assistance.”