UN mission chief in S Sudan calls for ensuring credible elections

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 14: Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Nicholas Haysom, said on Tuesday that the country can hold honest elections in December if politicians overcome a few obstacles.
Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Haysom urged political leaders to meet challenges in order to hold free, fair, and credible elections.
At a press conference in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, Haysom listed the obstacles as finalising security arrangements, deploying unified forces, and disbursing money to operationalize electoral bodies rather than just allocating it to the budget, according to Dujarric.
“He (Haysom) also called for intervention at the highest levels to resolve intercommunal tensions, conflict, and a volatile situation between Dinka Twic, Ngok Dinka, and Nuer communities in Warrap in South Sudan and also in Abyei,” Dujarric said.
(UNI)