‘Ballot must replace the bullets’, South Sudan tells General Assembly ahead of elections

Ambassador Cecilia A.M. Adeng of South Sudan addresses the General Debate of the UN General Assembly’s 81st session.

South Sudan remains committed to holding general elections in December to conclude its transition period, the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Cecilia Adout Majok Adeng, told the General Assembly on Monday, calling for all sanctions, including the arms embargo to be lifted.

Speaking to delegations in the Assembly ’s annual General Debate , Ms. Adeng said the vote would provide South Sudanese people the opportunity to choose their own leaders democratically, 15 years after the country’s independence.

She acknowledged that much work remained: electoral institutions need adequate resources, political dialogue must continue, security arrangements must advance and refugees and internally displaced persons must not be left out.

“The people of South Sudan must increasingly speak for themselves, and they must speak through the ballot […] Political competition must never again become armed confrontation. The ballot must replace the bullets,” she said.

Ms. Adeng said South Sudan had faced internal conflict shortly after independence and that implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, meant to end the second Sudanese civil war and develop democratic governance, had taken longer than anticipated.

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