South Sudan's peace monitors approve two-year extension of transitional period

Juba, Sep 19 (IANS) The extension of the transitional period for the South Sudanese administration and the postponement of national elections for two years was approved by a monitoring commission for the implementation of the revived peace agreement.

Charles Tai Gituai, interim Chairperson of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), on Wednesday, said that the government's decision to extend the transitional period secured 34 out of 41 votes.

"You have pronounced yourselves clear that the decision to extend the transitional period by 24 months, and this, as demonstrated by a vote of 34 of the 41 members who voted, consented to the extension of the transitional period," Gituai said in the South Sudanese capital of Juba during an extraordinary meeting of the RJMEC, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the new schedule, the world's youngest country will elect leaders in the first-ever general elections on December 22, 2026, at the end of the transitional period.

South Sudan's transitional government announced last week that national elections would be postponed, extending the transition period by two years after failing to meet key provisions of the peace agreement, marking the second delay since the country gained independence in 2011.

Gituai emphasised that as the country prepares for elections at the end of the extended transitional period, addressing the severe economic situation, which continues to affect the livelihood of South Sudanese people, is a top priority, while the training, unification, and deployment of the necessary unified forces are also critical.

Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro said that after the approval of extending the transitional period, the government will lobby for funds to complete pending tasks with a new timetable.

Under the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, signed in 2018 to end the civil war, the South Sudanese government was supposed to be dissolved on September 22 and hold elections in December this year.