South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
Benjamin Takpiny
The head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Nicholas Haysom said that the ongoing intermittent violence in some parts of the country threaten the possibility of holding free, fair and credible elections.
“We have been deeply concerned about what we call the flashpoints and trouble spots that we have seen emerge, the inter-communal violence, sometimes called ‘subnational violence’ and we have pointed out that these hotspots, these flashes of violence threaten the possibility of elections,” Haysom said during press conference in Juba on Tuesday.
He said that communal violence could undermine the environment within which elections can be held and significantly increase the possibility that elections would lead to a resumption or trigger fresh outbreak of violence.
“We have made those comments publicly and in our written statements and we will continue to do so,” Haysom said, adding that they are not the only ones that are making these observations.
“I have seen even government ministers, I have seen officials, I have seen party political representatives also comment on the dangers that are posed by this inter-communal violence which really highlights the need for all players, but also the government to intervene, where it is able to, to try and mitigate the impact of the violence,” he added.
Haysom said that the violence itself is threatening, but it also has consequences in the tensions it generates between communities and the ability to have political interactions, campaigning in different areas.
“It squeezes the political and civic space within which our civil society brothers and sisters are operating. So, the observation that you make is an accurate one and it’s a source of concern which we have raised, and I think the government is aware. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, even the President has referred to the need to reduce this violence and suppress it if we are going to have elections on time,” he said.
