John Akoon
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Chairperson of the National Bureau of Statistics, Dr. Augustino Ting, called for an extension of the roadmap timeline by three months to allow the conduct of the national population census before an election can be conducted.
Ting stated in an exclusive interview with Radio Tamazuj that conducting a census and gathering the essential information for the election within the current timeline is difficult.
According to him, the Bureau of Statistics needs the required resources to redesign district representation and geographical level.
“If the government considers extending the roadmap by 3 to 6 months, I am confident that with the necessary resources, we can expedite the arrangements to redesign the district representations at the geographical level to meet the government’s requirements,” Ting was quoted saying by the media outlet.
He stated that during his discussion with the ministerial committee on finance, he advocated for a three-month extension and full financial support for the institution.
“I clarified that unless there is an extension of the roadmap by at least three months and full support in terms of resources, conducting a census for the elections in December is not feasible.”
He added that if the extension is not possible, the election may have to be held exclusively with four optional suggestions.
His suggestions include the elections for president, governors, and county commissioners without regard for lawmakers at the national and state levels until the constituencies are redesigned.
“The first option involves conducting elections exclusively at the executive level. This means electing the president, governors, and county commissioners. However, elections for parliamentarians at both national and state levels would be deferred, as they require census data for district redesign,” he said, stressing that presidential, gubernatorial, and commissioner elections, which are not geographically determined, can take place independently.
He stated that the second option would be to consider a census to be conducted concurrently with the executive elections, but it would result in distinct terms for the executive and parliamentarians to provide necessary information for the elections.
“A census would be promptly conducted concurrently with the executive elections. Although this would result in different terms for the executive and parliamentarians, it provides the necessary information for subsequent stages of the elections.” he opined, adding that the third option should entail the utilisation of the 2008 census data to adjust the constituency changes, emphasising the challenges of the increase in parliament sizes that would require the new census to revert to 2010 constituencies.
He noted that the fourth concept may use biometric data, which would necessitate a careful time limit for citizen identification across the country.
“It involves conducting a census-like exercise with biometric data. This would require a considerable time frame for citizen identification across the country, potentially taking months if adequate resources and equipment are available.”
The parties to the revitalised peace agreement agreed on an extension of the term of the transitional government to allow for the implementation of pending tasks.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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