Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), Edmund Yakani, has said any rush to conduct an election without a conducive environment would send the country to war.
In a statement issued on Monday, Yakani said, “This early political contradictory statements on the conduct of general national elections by political leaders should stop.”
“It can easily mislead the public opinion about the importance of elections for transitioning the country from violence to peace.” The activist noted that South Sudan’s political leaders should take time to make primary, genuine decisions on the conduct of the general elections.
Yakani said the chances of the country falling back into violence due to electoral malpractices with high chances of irregularities are high. “The political transition from violence to peace in South Sudan requires a genuine political commitment from the leadership,” he said.
He noted that top political leaders have started issuing public statements on whether elections are to be held or not. Yakani said the requests for credible and fair elections stipulated in the provisions of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan have been not met yet.
“The provisions of R-ARCSS that are associated with electoral process intended to create a conducive environment for fair, credible and non-violent elections for transitioning of power peacefully for the sake of gaining peaceful and stable state have not been met.”
Through its Electoral Observatory, CEPO has argued that political establishments in the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) under the mechanism of the presidency should commission a genuine and creditable situation assessment of the elections for the conduct of peaceful and fair elections before deciding on the conduct of elections.
“Meeting the requirements stipulated in the provisions of the R-ARCSS associated with electoral process is essential for building up legal and institutional capacity for the conduct of peaceful and fair elections,” Yakani said
He emphasised that the key tasks of Chapter Two of the R-ARCSS on the Transitional Security Arrangements should be implemented. “The level of required civic education for the genuine public engagement is zero, and this means having elections with fewer informant voters,” the activist stated.
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