UN accepts governments’ request to assist prepare election

The Head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Nicholas Haysom on Thursday accepted the government’s request for support in preparing the upcoming elections slated for December 2024.

“I can confirm that this week the United Nations received a formal invitation from the government to assist in this (election) process,” said Haysom during meeting of the Revitalized Joint Monitoring Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) in Juba.

The Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro on January 24, 2023 wrote to Nicholas Haysom seeking the mission to provide comprehensive support to the government and relevant institutions as the country prepares for elections.

Haysom said UNMISS will provide technical electoral assistance to the government ahead of the upcoming general elections.

He added that the mission will also play an advisory role in the upcoming elections.

“This is significant because it authorized the United Nations to advise and assist on best practices for technical preparation for the elections,” said Haysom.

He reiterated that the elections will not be a UN-run process but a South Sudanese administered election with UN support.

“There is a real need to fast-track preparatory work now most critically it includes finalization of legal framework and reconstitution of National Elections Commission,” said Haysom.

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.

With the extension of the transitional period, the election is expected to be held in December 2024.