South Sudan risks descending into violence during elections: survey
The recent survey conducted between May and June 2023 by the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) revealed public fears of the country descending into violence if elections are perceived to lack credibility.
Edmund Yakani, Executive Director for CEPO, said that the results of the domestic observation survey revealed that 55 percent of the 925,000 people sampled predicted violence during elections period slated for December 2024.
“Our domestic observation findings are showing the public are losing trust and confidence on the expected elections to be conducted peacefully. The public expressed fear due to delayed reconstitution of electoral commission, delayed deployment of unified forces of the first batch and internal disagreement within political parties,” Yakani told The Juba Echo in an interview in Juba.
He said that there are high risks of violence breaking out during the upcoming elections, which could reverse the nascent peace gains achieved since the start of the implementation of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.
Charles Tai Gituai, the chairperson for the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission during his recent address to the United Nations Security Council, said that the parties are left with 18 months to enact electoral laws and put in place institutions needed to ensure free, fair and credible elections.
In August, 2022, parties to the 2018 revitalized peace agreement extended the transitional period by 24 months to implement critical tasks including security arrangements, reconstitution of political parties’ council and the drafting of a permanent constitution.
Yakani said among the key possibilities is the growing internal friction within political parties over nomination process for key positions.
“CEPO is urging the political leadership of the country to urgently meet and agree upon timely creation of requisite conditions for the conduct of the expected national general elections in December 2024,” he said.
