JUBA, South Sudan

South Sudan's Cabinet approved on Saturday a two-year extension of the transitional period agreed upon by conflict parties in 2018, as well as the first general elections for the same period since the country's independence from Sudan in 2011. 

Earlier on Friday, the South Sudan Presidency reached a consensus to extend the transitional period by two years and postpone elections, which were originally scheduled for December this year, to 2026.

"There were some articles in the Revitalized Peace Agreement that were not implemented, and we do not want to rush into an election without implementing all of the articles," Communication and Postal Service Minister Jacob Maiju Korok told reporters after the Cabinet meeting in the capital Juba.

Korok said the council of ministers, in their extraordinary meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir Mayardit, approved the extension of the transitional period and the postponement of the elections for another two years after hearing a memo presented by Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro on the endorsement of the decision of the agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan.

He said they did not want to rush into an election without completing the necessary tasks.

The presidency and political parties agreed to postpone elections scheduled for Dec. 22, 2024, for another two years, allowing the remaining five months of the Revitalized Peace Agreement and Roadmap's extended transitional period, which ends on Feb. 22, 2025, to be used to mobilize funds.

He added that the agreement's signatories believe it is critical to maintain the peace, security, and relative political stability that the agreement has brought about.

"The parties will therefore recommit activities while maintaining the improved trust gained during the intervening period, and they aim to achieve permanent peace, security, and political stability by ensuring that elections are conducted in a secure environment, and will establish electoral systems that will deliver free, fair, credible, and democratic elections to avoid a return to war," Korok told reporters.

He said the memo would be presented to both parliament and the peace monitoring mechanism for further consideration.

The move comes less than 24 hours after the parties agreed to postpone South Sudan's long-awaited first general election since independence in 2011.

A peace deal was reached with rival Riek Machar and signed by other political parties in 2018.

Together with President Kiir, they formed a unity government in 2020, with Machar serving as the first vice president alongside four others.

A 2018 peace deal that ended a civil war allowed President Salva Kiir to remain in charge of a transitional government, with his former rival Machar serving as his first deputy, along with four others.

South Sudan, the world's youngest country, has not held a national election since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011.