Opposition parties welcome UN support for election process
The Coalition of Opposition Parties (COOP) that never signed the 2018 revitalized peace deal have hailed the United Nations Mission in South Sudan for it’s recent assurance of support in organizing the 2024 national elections.
Dr. Gai Chol Paul, Chairman of Coalition of Opposition Parties appealed for support from UNMISS in the ongoing constitutional making process that will birtyh a new permanent constitution for the country.
“We the members of the Coalition of Opposition Parties (COOP) support the involvement of the UN in the process of elections,” Chol said in a statement issued in Juba on Tuesday.
The head of UNMISS Nicholas Haysom said recently that the peacekeeping mission will advise and assist the transitional unity government with best practices for technical preparation for elections.
This followed a request to UNMISS by the Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro.
Chol also urged the government to deploy the recently graduated unified forces to hotspot areas to prevent violence ahead of the upcoming elections slated for December 2024.
He also called on UNMISS to assist in provision of logistical support on voter registration, ballot papers printing and distribution, voter education, voting observation, counting and verification.
The 2018 revitalized peace deal compels the transitional unity government to conduct elections sixty days before the end of the transitional period, which the unity government recently extended for another two years.
Prerequisite to the election, the deal expects the permanent constitution to be completed and enacted before a new National Elections Commission organizes the polls.
