{"id":48152,"date":"2026-09-23T11:28:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T09:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=48152"},"modified":"2026-09-23T11:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T09:28:45","slug":"south-sudan-faces-major-challenge-to-hold-december-elections-eu-ambassador-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/south-sudan-faces-major-challenge-to-hold-december-elections-eu-ambassador-warns\/","title":{"rendered":"South Sudan faces major challenge to hold December elections – EU ambassador warns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writer: Sabri Dibaco <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The European Union Ambassador and the head of delegation to South Sudan, Per Enar Enarsson, has warned that the country faces an \u201cincredible challenge\u201d to conduct free and fair elections in December, while saying the polls remain feasible or possible if the government accelerates preparations and provides the necessary resources and technical capacity.<\/p>\n

The ambassador made the remarks to the journalists during a press conference days after South Sudan\u2019s parliament passed legislation related to the electoral process, with the country scheduled to go to the polls on 22 December 2026.<\/p>\n

He said it was still too early for the EU to make a final assessment of the country\u2019s preparedness, pointing to upcoming political and technical processes that could provide a clearer picture of the readiness of the elections.<\/p>\n

Ambassador ENARSSON underscored that the planned inter-party dialogue on Thursday would be particularly important in determining the level of political preparedness and whether political parties can build a broader coalition around the electoral process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be quite defining in terms of a broader coalition of parties and the preparedness for the election,\u201d Ambassador ENARSSON said.<\/p>\n

He underlined the EU had expected the inter-party dialogue to begin earlier, noting that the body responsible for the process was constituted in January.<\/p>\n

The ambassador also pointed to an upcoming African Union heads-of-state meeting, where discussions with the C5 and other leaders are expected to include South Sudan\u2019s electoral readiness.<\/p>\n

A technical monitoring mission assessing preparations for the elections is also expected to provide additional information, Ambassador ENARSSON said.<\/p>\n

The ambassador said the EU had not yet visited National Election Commission offices in the states, making it difficult to independently determine the extent of preparations across the country.<\/p>\n

However, he said information from some technical experts indicated that preparations had been slow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only remain with three months until the 22nd of December. So it’s going to be an incredible challenge to pull off free and fair elections by December,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Despite the concerns, the EU envoy said the December elections could still take place if the government takes urgent measures.<\/p>\n

He identified adequate government funding, technical expertise, increased capacity, full voter registration, and the training of election officials as key requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the government allocates sufficient resources and technical expertise and capacity, goes ahead with the voter registration at full speed, and trains all the officials that need to conduct it, I still believe it is feasible,” Ambassador ENARSSON said.<\/p>\n

He added that the coming days would be important in assessing readiness from both political and technical perspectives.<\/p>\n

The EU ambassador also said the European Union currently has no dedicated funding available to support South Sudan\u2019s elections.<\/p>\n

He said the EU had not seen a clear appeal or budget outlining the resources required for the electoral process.<\/p>\n

According to the ambassador, the South Sudanese government should take the lead by allocating resources for what he described as the country\u2019s important first election.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government itself will have to put resources for this very important first election,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He explained that if the government, together with the African Union, identifies the gaps and presents an appeal to the international community, the EU could then assess whether it can provide support.<\/p>\n

He said any potential international assistance would depend on factors including the inclusivity and credibility of the electoral process.<\/p>\n

South Sudan has been preparing for elections scheduled for 22 December 2026 as part of efforts to move from the transitional political arrangement toward an elected government.<\/p>\n

The electoral process comes amid continuing political and institutional challenges, including preparations for voter registration, training of election officials, political dialogue, and constitutional reforms.<\/p>\n

The EU ambassador’s comments come as attention increasingly turns to whether the remaining preparations can be completed within the limited period before polling day.<\/p>\n

The ambassador said the upcoming inter-party dialogue, African Union engagement, and technical monitoring of electoral preparations would help provide a clearer assessment of whether the country is ready for the December polls.<\/p>\n

For the EU, the credibility and inclusivity of the process remain important considerations as South Sudan moves toward the scheduled elections.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writer: Sabri Dibaco The European Union Ambassador and the head of delegation to South Sudan, Per Enar Enarsson, has warned that the country faces an \u201cincredible challenge\u201d to conduct free and fair elections in December, while saying the polls remain feasible or possible if the government accelerates preparations and provides[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":48153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/The-EU-Ambassador-in-south-Sudan-per-Enar-Enarsson-and-the-Deputy-Head-Of-Delegation-Zissimos-Vergos-during-the-press-conference-at-the-EU-Conference-Hal-l-photo-by-Sabri-Dibaco.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48152"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48154,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48152\/revisions\/48154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}