The country’s Presidential Adviser on National Security, Hon. Tut Gatluak further described the extension as an opportunity to implement the critical remaining protocols in R-ARCSS, such as the permanent constitution process, census, and the registration of political parties.
South Sudan’s transitional government was formed in February 2020 in line with R-ARCSS.
The world’s newest country that gained independence from Sudan in July 2011 and plunged into civil war in December 2013 had scheduled general elections before February 2023.
An agreement between the RTGoNU and the opposition was to postpone the elections to late 2024. Another postponement was reported, “owing to the continual delays in implementing crucial aspects of the 2018 peace agreement.”
Church leaders in South Sudan have criticized the third postponement, decrying the lack of will by politicians in the country to remove the obstacles that are impeding general elections in the East-Central African nation, Church leaders in the country have said.
Meanwhile, Bishop Hiiboro has urged South Sudanese citizens to embrace love for their country as a pathway to peace, saying, “To get this country peaceful, it will go within our hearts. We must fall in love with our country and dedicate ourselves to its future.”
“We have to go back to conversation,” Bishop Hiiboro said in his September 22 homily, and added, “The results we seek will only come when we genuinely invest in our country and each other.”
“It is time for us to be converted, to repent, and to work towards a common goal of peace,” the South Sudanese Catholic Bishop, who serves as the President of the Integral Human Development Commission of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SCBC) said.
Sabrine Amboka contributed to the writing of this story.
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