Yakani issues fresh reactions to gov’t request for electoral assistance from UN mission

JUBA, JANUARY 25^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – A prominent South Sudan activist has welcomed the submission of a request by the transitional government to the United Nations appealing for electoral process as the country prepare for polls slated for 2024, but then said some actions should have been taken before the government made its request.

In a letter to the UN Mission in South Sudan on Tuesday, the minister of cabinet affairs Martin Elia Lomuro who is also the Secretary-General of the High-Level Standing Committee for Implementation of the R-ARCISS said the government is preparing for elections and requested electoral assistance from the world body.

In reaction, Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), welcomed the government appeal as an indication of elections possibly taking place in 2024, but then said some actions should be taken as provided for in the revitalized peace agreement.

“CEPO welcomed the government move for requesting early UN electoral assistance as enshrined in the provisions of the R-ARCSS. But some key actions are required to be undertaken foe creating conducive environment for the electoral assistance to be meaningful,” Yakani said in a statement extended to Sudans Post this evening.

“The key tasks are reconstitution of the national elections commission, political parties council and national constitutional review commission including the formation of the constitutional drafting committee,” he added.

The prominent activist called on the parties to fully implement the security arrangements and conduct of credible population census as provided for in the revitalized peace deal, something he said is important in conduct of free and fair elections in Africa’s newest nation.

“The parties to the peace agreement (R-ARCSS) should strongly understand that among the key milestones for conduct of credible elections is genuine implementation of the transitional security arrangements tasks. Further the focusing on strengthening and empowering the national statistics bureau for the conduct of sound population census is another milestone action,” he said.

“It is absolutely essential that establishment of the political parties’ council, constitutional-making and population census prior to the conduct of the elections is paramount,” Yakani stressed.

Yakani further appealed to “the presidency to compare and demonstrate concrete political commitment for genuine implementation of the pending tasks of the R-ARCC.”