South Sudan postpones elections by 2 years, citing incomplete preparations

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir at Juba's Presidential Palace, South Sudan. [VOA]

The government in South Sudan has postponed elections scheduled for December for two years citing the need to complete processes such as a census, the drafting of a permanent constitution, and the registration of political parties.

The Presidential Adviser on National Security Tut Gatluak on Friday said the extension would provide an opportunity to complete critical processes before the new election date of December 22, 2026.

This is the second time the country, which gained independence in 2011, is postponing elections and extending a transitional period that started in February 2020.

President Salva Kiir and his former rival turned deputy, Riek Machar, signed a peace agreement in 2018 that ended a five-year civil war in which more than 400,000 people died.

Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro said the extension followed recommendations from both electoral institutions and the security sector.

Last month, the chairperson of the National Election Commission, Professor Abednego Akok, told The Associated Press the country was behind the electoral calendar, which required voter registration to have started in June but was still pending due to a shortage of funds.

The country is going through an economic crisis that has seen civil servants go unpaid for almost one year, after it's oil exports were affected by a damaged pipeline in war-torn neighboring Sudan through which it exports.

The Tumaini initiative peace talks that have been going on in neighboring Kenya, believed to provide a foundation for the inclusion of non-signatory groups to sustain peace, have also stalled.

A new security act that allows for warrantless detentions became law in August despite concerns from human rights groups that it would create fear in the runup to the elections.

Andrea Mach Mabior, an independent political analyst, warned that any sham elections may result in a waste of resources and chaos.

"Going for elections that do not meet international standards will be a waste of money," Mabior told the AP.

But others like Edmund Yakani, executive director of the Community Empowerment Progress Organization, said delays to the elections or any extension of the transitional period would create a possibility of violence erupting across the fragile country.

"If we fail to conduct the elections in December 2024 the chance of the country turning into violence is higher than if we go for the elections," Yakani told the AP in August.

The country, which has gone through the shocks of civil war and climate change is in need of humanitarian aid with an estimated 9 million people — 73 percent of the country's population — projected to be in need of humanitarian assistance during 2024, according to the 2024 UN Humanitarian Needs Overview for South Sudan.