Nicholas Haysom, the Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of UN Mission in South Sudan -Credit: Charles Wote/Eye Radio -14th April 2022

The head of the UN mission in South Sudan has expressed doubt over the conduct of free and fair election saying the country is yet to have a competitive political space.

The 2018 peace accord obligates the unity government to reconstitute a competent and independent National Elections Commission to conduct free, fair and credible elections before the end of the transitional period.

It adds that the outcome of the election should reflect the will of the electorate.

The unity government is obligated to conduct a national population and housing census before the end of the transitional period.

Nicolas Haysom, the Special Representative of the Secretary General and Head of UN Mission in South Sudan expressed doubt over the conduct of free and fair elections.

“In regards to elections, I would like to underscore the range of technical preparations which will be necessary to hold elections under the difficult circumstances in South Sudan,” Haysom said.

“If the technical preparations are overdue and complex, then I would also want to point out that the political environment is equally important for the holding of elections, creating the atmosphere in which a competitive political process can be undertaken.”

Despite the delays in the implementation, President Salva Kiir in November last year said the much-anticipated general elections would take place as planned in 2023.

But in his address during the 5^th Governors forum in Juba last November, First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar said there would be no fair and free elections in 2023 unless key provisions in the 2018 peace deal are fully implemented.

Nicolas Haysom, the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan told Reporters in Juba yesterday that rampant violence in the country remains a threat to holding elections.

“They [elections] could not be held if there is violence rampant in place throughout the country,” the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan told Reporters in Juba on Thursday.

“We need to see this as particularly one of the conditions that has to be met for us to create a condition for elections which is bringing the community together, and greater level of common commitment to peaceful coexistence across the country.

“We would like to believe that there is particularly a role for the Central Government and the new unified forces to play in creating conditions for people to have confidence to embark on the electoral process.”

South Sudan has never held a general election since independence in 2011.

The first general elections were scheduled to take place on the 9^th of July 2015.

However, the country descended into years of civil war, prompting the parliament to extend the presidential term until July 2018.