South Sudan postpones elections and extends transition period

Since the country gained its hard-fought independence from Sudan in 2011, citizens have been waiting to elect their politicians. Violence, poverty and political power struggles still characterize the world's youngest state.

Although a civil war between President Salva Kiir and his arch-rival Vice President Riek Machar (2013-2018) was ended by a peace agreement six years ago, the feuds between the two have repeatedly delayed a transition process that was supposed to pave the way for future elections.

The presidency has “announced an extension of the country's transition period by two years and a postponement of elections, originally scheduled for December 2024, to December 22, 2026,” Kiir's office said in a Facebook post late Friday.

In the statement, Cabinet Minister Martin Elia Lomuro said the extension was “a response to the recommendations of both the electoral institutions and the security sector.”

“We have not completed all the tasks that are crucial for holding the elections in December 2024,” Lomouro told reporters on Friday evening.

Key provisions of the transition agreement remain unfulfilled – including the creation of a national constitution and the unification of the rival forces of Kiir and Machar – which is increasingly angering the international community.

At the beginning of the year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the parties to take “urgent steps” to ensure that the elections can take place. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), however, warned that the necessary “technical, legal and operational expertise” to hold the vote in December was lacking.

A glaring lack of financial resources – despite the landlocked country’s rich oil reserves – further hampers efforts, and bodies such as the National Election Commission are still not fully functional.

And although the commission announced in April that voter registration would begin in June, by early July there was no indication that this would happen.

– 'Disappointment' –

Edmund Yakani, chairman of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation (CEPO), told AFP that the decision to postpone the election was a “total disappointment”.

Yakani said South Sudan's leadership had more than enough time to prepare for the event.

“These extensions were used as a strategy to maintain power,” he said, after the government had already announced a two-year extension in August 2022.

In June, a “troika” of Britain, Norway and the United States issued a statement calling on political parties to work together.

“History will harshly judge those politicians who failed to take action to enable such elections or who took action to prevent them,” the report said.

South Sudan has been at war for almost half its history and continues to be rocked by outbreaks of politically motivated ethnic violence.

The civil war left around 400,000 people dead and millions displaced before Kiir and Machar signed a peace agreement to form a unity government in 2018.

Since then, the country has struggled with floods, hunger, violence and political disputes because the promises of the peace agreement have not been implemented.

Earlier this month, the United Nations humanitarian agency warned that more than 700,000 people had been affected by the floods and that many in need were not receiving adequate assistance.

Despite abundant oil reserves, the country is largely impoverished due to rampant corruption. The ruling elite is accused of plundering the state coffers.

Oil exports account for around 90 percent of national income. Since a pipeline transporting oil from South Sudan was damaged in war-torn Sudan in February, the government has been deprived of this vital source of income.

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