NAIROBI, Sept 19 (Askume) – The international guarantor of South Sudan’s peace process said the transitional government’s postponement of December elections was disappointing and reflected its failure to implement a 2018 peace plan.
On Friday, South Sudan President Salva Kiir’s office announced it would extend the transition period for two years and postpone elections for a second time to 2022.
Peace has officially returned to South Sudan since a 2018 deal ended five years of conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people, but violence between rival communities still frequently flares up.
Britain, the United States, Norway, the European Union, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands, which have been guarantors of the peace process since South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, said the delay was frustrating.
“This decision reflects the transitional government’s failure to implement the 2018 peace agreement despite its commitment to release a ‘road map’ in 2022,” they said in a joint statement on Wednesday evening.
The organisation said elections are the best way to bring peace to the country and South Sudan’s leaders must take immediate action to create the conditions necessary to hold elections.
Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomulo said the government appreciated the guarantors’ position but did not condone them.
“If you don’t support the extension, that’s fine, but we can rest assured that we will not allow South Sudan to fall into war again,” local station iRadio quoted the minister as saying on Wednesday.
The election is aimed at selecting leaders to succeed a transitional government that includes Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar, whose forces have fought each other during the civil war.
UN Special Envoy for South Sudan Nicholas Haysom said in a statement that it was clear the country was not ready for elections.
(This story has been amended to add the word “office” in paragraph 2 and correct the position of UN special envoy for South Sudan Nicholas Haysom in paragraph 9)
