National parliament sitting. September 20, 2024 (Photo: Eye Radio)

The Transitional National Legislature has unanimously endorsed a memo on the postponement of South Sudan’s first-ever elections and the two-year extension of the transitional period in an extraordinary sitting on Friday.

On 13^th September, the presidency reached a consensus on the decision reportedly based on recommendations of electoral and security sector institutions.

The memo was quickly endorsed by the Council of Ministers in an emergency meeting on 14th September, before a similar greenlight was given by peace monitoring body R-JMEC amid concerns from diplomatic missions.

Presidential Adviser Tut Gatluak said the two-year extension will ensure that critical remaining protocols in R-ARCSS, such as the permanent constitution process, census, and the registration of political parties, are ironed out.

During the sitting on Friday noon, Justice Minister Ruben Madol presented the memo amending the transitional constitution to incorporate the unity government extension.

Following deliberations on the resolutions of the cabinet and R-JMEC, lawmakers consented to the memo and adopted the report of the High-Level Standing Committee on the implementation of the roadmap.

Meanwhile, a researcher said the last-ditch attempt to save the unity government from descending into legitimacy crisis faces serious legal hurdles due to limited time for it to be endorsed by parliament before 22nd September deadline.

Dr. Luka Biong Deng, the Managing Director of the Sudd Institute, said the government may have no choice but to rush endorsement of such a complex decision without enough time to follow due legal procedures, simply because any proposed constitutional amendment must be introduced in parliament one month before deliberations on its amendment.

Western diplomatic missions in South Sudan including the embassies of UK, US, Norway, EU, Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands have voiced their disappointment over the two-year extension of the transitional government.

In a press statement, the diplomatic missions pointed out that the extension highlights the transitional government’s failure to implement the 2018 peace agreement despite previous promises made in the launch of peace roadmap in 2022.

They stressed that “while aware of the numerous challenges South Sudan faces and the complexities of the electoral process, we express our disappointment at this decision.”

The statement further said timely elections are essential for strengthening stability, democracy, and sustainable development, and the government is accountable to the people of South Sudan for this choice.