By Bida Elly David
South Sudan’s struggle to conduct elections compels the government to seek technical support for December 2024 democracy process to take place.
The minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Dr. James Pitia Morgan revealed meeting Ambassador of Malta, Dr. Wilhelm Von Trott zu Solz, to lobby support to finish the electoral process.
“The minister is calling on the government of Malta to provide technical assistance to the South Sudan elections in December 2024,” a statement from office of the ministry reads in part.
The duo also discussed ways to enhance bilateral relations in areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The Minister stated that Malta as a country is a peacebuilder and has a very important role to play in South Sudan, particularly in the journey to elections.
The Ambassador of Malta expressed gratitude to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, stating that the meeting is to renew relations between South Sudan and Malta and further conveying his government’s wishes to have a designated Ambassador of South Sudan in Malta.
Early this year, the National Election Commission (NEC) decried a lack of funding to kick-start necessary preparations for the election, noting that the government should use people of goodwill to extend support in case of a budget deficit.
However, on Tuesday, the NEC announced June as the month to commence voter registration. This came after the commission acknowledged receipt of part of its pre-election activities budget approved by the cabinet.
Last year, the South African government demonstrated its will to support South Sudan in its preparation for the conduct of elections in December.
Despite the interest from countries of goodwill, there are still a number of pending provisions that need to be accomplished before the task can be completed.
Among those are the national security bill, which still hangs in the parliament, the permanent constitutions under scrutiny by the review committee, and the pending complete deployment of the unified forces.