By Bida Elly David
Conducting democratic elections is not an easy matter. There is need to expedite implementation of the revitalized agreement to pave way for polls, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs has said.
South Sudan is journeying towards the end of a transitional period, expected to conclude with democratic elections in December, but other provisions of the agreement remain unfulfilled as the deadline looms.
Speaking to National Parliament, on Monday, Martin Elia Lomuro, the minister of cabinet affairs, said people shouldn’t speed up the electoral process while the agreement has not been fully implemented.
He said they will sit down and discuss the pending provisions as parties to the agreement, through the high-level implementation committee of the revitalized agreement.
“That is where the decision about whether there will be elections or no elections will come; it is not an easy matter, but rather a matter that all parties to the agreement will be involved through representatives of the high-level standing committee as well as the presidency,” said Lomuro.
He noted that just as the roadmap was processed, the same decision will be taken to ensure that the country is stable and will not go back to chaos.
He further stressed that the bodies in charge of the electoral process, through their work, will determine the success of elections in 2024.
“We have the electoral and constitutional bodies related to elections, such as the national election commission, the political party council, and the national constitutional review commission,” he highlighted.
The cabinet minister also noted that the national bureau of statistics has a bigger role in determining the fate of elections.
“The national bureau of statistics will also tell us what we do if we have no census, constitution, or x and y,” he lamented.
Lomuro, however, claimed that the parties to the agreement are moving well towards implementation, urging the parliament not to be skeptical.
“I want to conform to the house that we are progressing but surely concluding the implementation of the agreement,” he told MPs on Tuesday.
He underscored that five chapters of the agreement have already been accomplished, with a few that await completion.
“We have finished chapters one, two, three, five, and six, with only chapter four, which the ministry of finance reviewed and will be submitted to us (the cabinet),” he noted.
Furthermore, Lomuro demonstrated pity to the citizens over the on-going economic hardship, saying implementing the agreement would serve as the only remedy.
Last year, President Salva Kiir vowed not to have another extension of the transitional government of national unity, saying there must be elections for the citizens to choose their leaders through a democratic process.