Pictured left: Jon Temin, Princeton Lyman, and Dhanojak Obongo in US July 9, 2012. USIP photo.

The plans to organize general elections in South Sudan next year are not realistic, an official from the United States Institute for Peace has said.

The Director for Africa Program at the Institute says the ongoing conflict in South Sudan will greatly affect the participation of the citizens and the conduct of peaceful elections.

Jon Temin says that the prospect for holding elections in South Sudan depends on achieving peace and the relocation of the Internally Displaced Persons to their homes.

Mr. Temin told a forum organized by the Center for Strategic & International Studies in the U.S, that the situation in South Sudan is not conducive for the conduct of elections.

“I think that having 70,000 people living in UN camps is far from normal, I think that people from certain groups not feeling safe to walk the streets of the capital city –is not normal,” said Mr Temin.

“And an extraordinary situation requires a sense of urgency from all parties, but especially from the protagonists who are doing the fighting.”

Mr. Temin said holding elections in South Sudan before uniting the country could create more conflicts:

“I also think having an election in anything like the environment that we have right now in South Sudan, it is potentially explosive and potentially sets things back further. I am all for elections and democratic processes, but I think there needs to be a conversation about delaying those elections for at least a little while.”

Jon Temin called on the government of South Sudan and the SPLM-in Opposition to urgently reach an inclusive comprehensive agreement in Addis Ababa.