South Sudan has announced a significant extension of its transition period, delaying its long-awaited elections for an additional two years.
The transitional government, citing the failure to meet critical elements of a peace agreement, revealed that the transition will now continue until February 2027. This marks the second extension since the transition began in February 2020.
The announcement came after advice from election-related institutions and the security sector, which highlighted the necessity for more time to fulfill essential pre-election tasks.
Martin Elia Lomuro, the minister for Cabinet Affairs in the transitional government, explained, “The government has reset the transition period, which will now start in February 2025 and extend until 2026.”
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Originally, South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation which gained independence in 2011, was scheduled to hold its first general elections on December 22, 2026, at the end of the initial transition period.
The extension follows the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, signed in 2018 to end a devastating civil war that resulted in approximately 400,000 deaths, according to the United Nations.
This agreement stipulated that the government would be dissolved on September 22, 2024, in preparation for the elections.
