South Sudan has rescheduled its national elections to February 11, 2027, further postponing the country’s first elections since gaining independence in 2011.
The National Elections Commission (NEC) announced the new date in its electoral timetable, shifting the presidential and parliamentary elections from the previously scheduled December 22.
NEC spokesperson, Josephine Fortelo, confirmed the revised schedule to Reuters on Saturday, explaining that it was reached after consultations with relevant stakeholders.
“This is the timeline we have come up with after a thorough consultation with the stakeholders,” she said.
However, the commission did not disclose the reason for the latest postponement.
In September, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan warned that the country lacked the necessary safeguards and conditions to conduct credible elections.
South Sudan has not conducted a national election since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, with previous efforts to organise its first post-independence polls repeatedly postponed.
Although a 2018 peace agreement formally ended a five-year civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, violence among rival communities continues to erupt in different parts of the country.
The latest postponement adds to the challenges confronting South Sudan as it continues preparations for its first national elections since independence.
