President Kiir speaks in a function in Juba. Feb 6, 2014.

President Salva Kiir says the 2015 elections will not take place because of the displacement and animosity caused by the mid-December conflict.

President Kiir said the calls for an interim government will also mean elections be pushed forward.

He said thousands of people have been displaced, and activities of political parties have also been disrupted.

President Kiir told a crowd that received him at Juba International Airport upon his return from Kenya on Sunday that elections can not take place without the restoration of peace and stability in the country.

“I had said that we should conduct the elections in 2015 as stipulated, and let everyone come and contest for it, but the West said that the elections should be postponed for the next 3 years,” said Mr President.

“So, the elections will not be conducted in 2015 because the process of bringing reconciliation among people will take some times and a transitional government needs to also conduct a population census, because people can not go for elections without carrying out the housing and population census.”

President Kiir also said he is not opposed to the formation of a transitional government in the country.

He said the interim government should come about as a result of the ongoing political talks in Addis Ababa.

“The transitional government can be formed after people agreed on the political settlement, after we have agreed on the issues that brings about peace, then we organize a national reconciliation dialogue and all other things,” he added.

President Salva Kiir also said the transitional government will include other political parties, civil society, women and youth groups.

He said it will not be dominated by members of his party or from the movement of Dr. Riek Machar.

‘I quite agree with the President’

Meanwhile, a political analyst says it is necessary to postpone the general elections for the next year to allow the country to heal.

Professor Samson Wassara, who is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Bahr el Ghazal, told Eye Radio that it is almost impossible to hold elections next year due to the ongoing conflict in the country.

He said he agrees with President Salva Kiir’s assertion that reconciliation and stability be prioritized before the elections.

“I quite agree with him and I quite agree with those people who will say that it is almost impossible to hold elections next year, given actually the processes that are in front here,” he said.