S. Sudan Pins Hopes On Transition Extension Amid Int'l Concerns

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) News report by Mohammad Abdulaziz
KHARTOUM, Sept 28 (KUNA) -- Given peace challenges haunting South Sudan, the government has decided to stall presidential and legislative elections due in December to give leeway to hold up stability.
However, the governmental move sparked astringent criticism from the international community, billing it as a setback for State building efforts.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir's office had announced an extension of the transitional period by two years and postponed elections for a second time following a delay in 2022.
Under the latest decision, the electoral process, which was scheduled to be held in December 2024, will take place on December 22, 2026.
Speaking to KUNA, Atem Simon, a South Sudanese scholar, said the transitional period extension obviously reflects the political will of disputing parties that only seek to hold fast to power, shrugging off democratization and political, economic and military reforms.
He said the international community was keen to ensure that the electoral process would be held at the scheduled time in spite of local parties' reservations.
Maher Abu Al-Goukh, a political analyst, also speaking to KUNA, opined that South Sudan's recent move mirror a set of interlinked factors, including rivals' political interests and security and economic challenges the country is facing.
The postponement is primarily a bid to maintain the country's fragile stability in spite of concerns that the democratic transition process could be put on the back burner, he added.
But, he expected that given the decision, the government of South Sudan would consequently be subject to more international pressure that could eventually lead to isolating the government internally and externally.
For his part, Al-Muthanna Abdelqader said the desire to keep personal interests, the strangling financial crisis and insufficient international pressure are key factors for the rulers to extend the transitional period and delay the election that is expected to cost roughly USD 430 million.
Abdelqader underlined that the failure of all rivals to abide by the principal items of the peace accord, including constitution and population, would put the election and national stability in jeopardy.
As for international reactions, the United Nations (UN) and international guarantors of South Sudan's peace process said the transitional government's postponement of elections due in December was disappointing and showed its failure to implement a 2018 peace plan.
They also called for speeding up the required procedures to clear the atmosphere to conduct free and fair elections, underlining that the election is the sole way to attain peace and stability in South Sudan.
The UK, the US, Norway, European Union, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands, which are all the guarantees of South Sudan's peace talks, voiced dismay at the extension decision as a breach of the peace deal.
Comparatively, the government of South Sudan said that it is well aware of international reactions to the decision, but defied that it would not allow the country to be dragged into a war once more.
On September 13, South Sudan's parties to the 2018 peace agreement had extended the transitional period by another two years, delaying the country's first anticipated democratic elections that had been scheduled for this December.
In a meeting held at the Presidential Palace, the five vice presidents, along with cabinet members and advisors, agreed to extend the transition period, pushing the elections to 2026.
According to the revitalized peace deal of 2018, the government reshuffle was scheduled for September 22 of this year, with elections originally planned to begin in mid-December. (end)
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