The Executive Director for Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) is calling on the African Union Ad-hoc committee on the South Sudan peace process to push parties to the agreement to expedite the review of election laws as the country prepares for its first election since independence.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj in an interview, Edmund Yakani, a vocal activist said the regional body should push the parties to expedite the review of election laws, the Political Parties Act, and push the parties to urgently reconstitute the national constitutional review commission.
“Persuade them to urgently reconstitute the national constitutional review commission, the national elections commission, and South Sudan political parties because we believe these institutions play an instrumental role in the political transitioning of the country from violence to peace,” Yakani said.
“But also we want to urge them to ensure that our national parliament urgently enact the constitutional making process bill which is pending in the parliament, the political parties act which is pending in the parliament, and the review of the election process which is also pending in the parliament,” he added.
The AU peace and security Ad-hoc committee consist of five countries including Nigeria, Algeria, South Africa, Chad, and Rwanda.
Representatives from the committee member states are expected to visit Juba soon to review and discuss the implementation of the 2018 peace deal.
Yakani also stressed that the AU delegation should also push the parties to implement the provisions of Chapter 5 of the agreement on transitional justice.
“We hope that also the visiting team of the ministers of foreign affairs from the AU ad-hoc committee countries will commit themselves to ensure that discussion around actualizing chapter five provisions is very important in terms of transitional justice, he said.