South Sudan’s government is holding an emergency cabinet meeting, hours after announcing that long-delayed national elections will be postponed by two years.
The elections were scheduled to take place in December.
A 2018 peace deal that ended the civil war allowed President Salva Kiir to remain at the head of a transitional government, with his former foe Riek Machar as his deputy.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, has not held national elections since gaining independence in 2011.
The decision to postpone the vote for another two years did not come as a major surprise.
South Sudan’s political leaders have been in no hurry to prepare for the elections.
This has raised suspicions that they are clinging to power in the oil-rich country.
President Salva Kiir’s office says essential tasks, such as writing a new constitution, must be completed before the elections.
Officials also pointed to logistical and security issues that could not be resolved by the end of this year.
Those in power are the same leaders who plunged the country into a five-year civil war.
Given the current relative peace and the fact that neighboring Sudan is ravaged by conflict, politicians in South Sudan are unlikely to face much international pressure.
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