The African Union's top representative for South Sudan urged the United Nations to help ensure that a critical election in the East African nation next month passes peacefully.

Despite a 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war, South Sudan still sees armed fighting and displacement of people, and there are concerns that elections could further unravel the fragile peace.

Jakaya Kikwete, the AU’s top envoy for South Sudan and Tanzania’s former president, made the appeal for assistance in a video call to the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

He pressed for security reforms and dialogue among all parties after the election to “help heal the nation.”

Risk of 'political crisis'

If the vote is not conducted properly and peacefully, "you cannot contemplate what would happen,” he said. The country could face an even “bigger political and security crisis.”

South Sudan has repeatedly delayed elections since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011. A civil war erupted in 2013 and some 400,000 people died before the 2018 peace agreement that brought President Salva Kiir and rival Riek Machar into an interim, power-sharing government.

Kiir dissolved the transitional government in September, removed his deputies and appointed a caretaker administration. The national legislature and state governments were also dissolved.

Machar remains under house arrest and on trial on charges that include treason over an attack on a military garrison that authorities allege he helped orchestrate. His allies deny the allegations.

'Not an obstacle to peace'

Many are concerned the Dec. 22 elections may be too soon for the fragile country. Kiki Gbeho, the UN’s special envoy for South Sudan, expressed her doubts about the election.

While Kiir’s party — the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement — was conducting nationwide primaries, Gbeho added, other parties have shown “very limited electoral activity."

“These developments are creating momentum toward elections,” she said, but whether they can be held on the planned date remains uncertain, as does their inclusivity.

South Sudan’s deputy UN ambassador, Sabino Amaikwey, defended the December 22 vote, and said it was time to stop further postponements of the election. “Elections are not an obstacle to peace. They are an essential part of its consolidation and provide the people of South Sudan with the opportunity to determine their political leadership and future,” he said.

Electoral agency pledges impartiality

South Sudan’s National Elections Commission chairman, Gabriel Bol Deng, said the commission would treat all parties fairly and remain impartial, according to a statement shared with The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The commission has not announced a start date for parties to register for the elections or responded to AP questions about whether preparations for the vote can be completed before December 22.

Gbeho said Machar’s party maintains that his release from house arrest remains a prerequisite for its participation in dialogue.

The humanitarian situation in South Sudan, a country with an estimated population of 12.5 million people, also continues to worsen, Gbeho said, with more people at risk of famine and 10 million people needing assistance, including an estimated 7.5 million facing food insecurity.