By Charles K Mark
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International corporations, Dr. James Pitia Morgan, said government is ready to form electoral institutions.
He disclosed this after a meeting between President Salva Kiir Mayardit and the Norwegian Special Envoy for South Sudan and Sudan, Jon Anton Johnson, at State House J1 yesterday.
“The government would, in the coming days, establish the electoral institutions to prepare the country for the polls,” reads a statement from president’s office but it didn’t mention the time.
During the meeting, President Kiir assured the Norwegian government of his commitment to implement all the provisions of the Peace Agreement to pave the way for the conduct of elections next year.
While the Norwegian Special Envoy for South Sudan and Sudan, Jon Anton Johnson, said some of the issues discussed during their meeting were challenges facing South Sudan and the sub region,
Jon added that the meeting also touched on events, including the elections in 2024, as stipulated in the peace accord, to allow South Sudanese to choose leaders of their choice.
“The meeting also discussed the crisis in Sudan and other regional matters of concern,” the Norwegian Special Envoy stated.
Parties to the revitalized peace deal have continuously urged the government to speed up reconstitution and operationalization of the Political Parties Council (PPC) and National Election Commission (NEC) ahead of the 2024 general elections.
Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) Interim Chairperson Charles Tai Gituai said the benchmarks must be met in order to conduct free, fair, and creditable elections.
“The institutions tasked with the preparation and conduct of elections, namely the political parties’ council and the National Election Commission, should be reconstituted and operationalized,” Gituai said earlier.
In terms of criticality in the election process, the three important commissions are the National Constitutional Review Commission, the National Electoral Commission, and the Political Parties Council.