Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan, briefs the Security Council meeting on the situations in the Sudan and South Sudan. (Photo: Rick Bajornas/UN).

South Sudan is currently not in a position to conduct free and fair elections unless necessary conditions and institutions are in place before December 2024, the head of UN Mission in the country said.

Addressing the UN Security Council in New York on Thursday, Nicholas Haysom said South Sudan must fully implement vital provisions of the 2018 peace deal for it to hold a successful democratic transition.

“Member states have enquired of UNMISS as to whether the country can be considered capable of holding free, fair, credible, and especially peaceful elections,” he said.

“We have clearly stated that, as matters stand now, the country is not yet in a position to hold credible elections, a view shared by almost all key stakeholders across the political spectrum.”

Mr. Haysom said the necessary preconditions that must be fully implemented include the writing of a permanent constitution and the deployment of properly trained and equipped force.

According to the UN official, other conditions are the formulation of an operational election security plan, a clear electoral framework and the election institutions and mechanisms to be in place.

Mr. Haysom warned that elections are a likely trigger of violence in societies emerging from conflict, unless adequate resources and confidence building measures are invested in its preparation.

“Comparative experience suggests that elections are a likely trigger for the relapse into violence in societies emerging from conflict unless adequate time, resources and confidence building measures are invested in their preparations,” he told the Council.

The UNMISS chief also emphasized on the need for consensus among the contending political parties on how the country can successfully hold elections.

“There must be an agreed code of conduct for political parties, establishing the parameters of acceptable political behavior and which allows for a more open political and civic space than the one that currently exists in the country,” he said.

“The process of agreeing on these conditions must be one that builds trust in the electoral institutions and acceptance of the outcomes by all participants.”

South Sudan peace parties on November 15, 2023, kicked off the long-awaited deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF).

Since then, at least two battalions have been posted to volatile Upper Nile State and further troops were dispatched to different deployment centers.

President Kiir has also reconstituted the leadership of electoral institutions including the Political Parties Council, National Elections Commission, and the National Constitutional Review Commission.

However, the electoral bodies, except the Political Parties Council, have not been empowered due to what Haysom said is a disagreement among the principles over the composition of the institutions’ leadership and women representation.

The permanent constitution is still pending.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Michael Makuei said on December 7, 2023, that elections in South Sudan can be held with or without full implementation of the 2018 peace deal.

Makuei argued that the 2005 Nairobi-signed Comprehensive Peace Agreement was not fully implemented.