Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) urged the international community to double its support for South Sudan’s constitution-making process if the full transition is to be realised.
Maj Gen rtd Charles Gituai, the interim chairperson of RJMEC, said it will only take 18 months for the election to be conducted, but many things are not yet implemented to create a conducive environment.
In his address to the Security Council on RJMEC’s assessment of the South Sudan peace process and its efforts in support of the implementation of the revitalised agreement on Tuesday, Gituai called on the international community to support Sudan with funds to speed up the rollout of tasks under the roadmap to pave the way for polls.
“The international community can support the South Sudanese efforts, especially by directly funding the constitution-making process, Disarmament, demobilisation, and Reintegration (DDR), as well as the preparation and conduct of elections,” Gituai said.
Gituai observed that parties have continued to implement the agreement as manifested in the graduation of unified forces, but the process meant to enhance peaceful elections remains behind while time continues to move closer.
He reiterated that elections are due in December 2024, which is around 18 months from now, while most security arrangements are not complete.
“In order to conduct free, fair, and credible elections, the following critical benchmarks need to be attained as per the Revitalised Peace Agreement: Completion of the unification and redeployment of forces in order to provide election-related security,” Gituai said.
He added that the reconstitution and operationalization of the institutions tasked with the preparation and conduct of elections, namely the Political Parties Council and the National Elections Commission, need to be put in place.
The RJMEC boss stressed the need to set up permanent constitution-making in order to be people-led and people-owned to guide the conduct of elections.
Also, he said the judicial reforms are required to enhance the capacity and independence of the judicial institutions to deal with election-related disputes and to improve the overall political and civic space in which multiparty elections are conducted.
“With the prospects of elections looming only 18 months away, there is a need for our collective efforts to focus on South Sudan at this critical time and ensure that the Agreement is implemented in letter and spirit,” he said.
Gituai appealed to the Security Council to engage peace parties in South Sudan to speed up the implementation of the agreement.
“I would like to appeal to this Council to remain seized of the peace process in South Sudan, engage the RTGoNU to expedite implementation of the Peace Agreement, and conduct elections as scheduled,” he said.
Gituai noted that trust deficits among the Parties, lack of adequate resources, capacity gaps, persistent levels of inter-communal violence in the states, negative activities of the holdout groups, and natural calamities like floods continue to slow down the implementation of the agreement.
He added that recently, additional strain has been placed on humanitarian and other resources in South Sudan by the influx of refugees and returnees from the conflict in the Republic of Sudan.
“The international community can support the South Sudanese efforts, especially by directly funding the constitution-making process, disarmament, demobilisation, and Reintegration, as well as the preparation and conduct of elections,” Gituai stated.
Consequently, last year peace parties extended the transitional period for 24 months from February 2023 to February 2025 to enable the completion of the pending task in preparation for credible, free, and fair elections in December 2024.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan Follow Africa-Press
