South Sudan postpones election, extends president’s tenure

The cabinet of South Sudan has postponed the country’s elections and extended the tenure of President Salva Kiir for two more years.

Elections in the bitterly divided nation had been due before July 9 – the end of the parliament and president’s mandate under a provisional constitution – but they were opposed by international donors and civil society groups who said it would be impossible to hold the vote in a nation riven by war.

No election has been held in South Sudan as an independent country. Kiir and members of parliament were elected in April 2010, one year before the country split from Sudan.

However, the decision to extend the president’s tenure goes against a deal struck between Kiir and rebel chief Riek Machar earlier in February.

Both leaders had agreed to set up a transitional unity government in the bitterly divided nation to run for 30 months from July 9.

But Michael Makuei, the country’s information minister, said the term extension would give more time for negotiation without pressure.

“We have passed a resolution extending the tenure of the president and the parliament, including all elected positions,” he told AFP.

With the latest ceasefire in tatters, diplomats say frustration is mounting that neither side is taking the peace efforts seriously to end a war in which tens of thousands have been slaughtered.

Over half the country’s 12 million people need aid, according to the UN, which is also sheltering some 100,000 civilians trapped inside camps ringed with barbed wire, too terrified to venture out for fear of being killed.

The resolution on the tenure extension is still expected to be passed by parliament, but that now comprises almost entirely of lawmakers loyal to Kiir, with those loyal to Machar fighting or in exile.